Analyzing the Influence of Initial Diagnosis on Interpersonal Problem Trajectories in Residential Treatment for Eating Disorders - A Review

Abstract

Eating disorders (ED) involve abnormal eating habits driven by an unhealthy focus on food, weight, or appearance. While there are more residential treatment facilities for ED, little is known about what happens after patients leave. This review explores the success rates of residential therapy for all ages, genders, and types of eating disorders, aiming to identify links between specific interpersonal dimensions and the onset and maintenance of ED symptoms. Understanding how symptoms and dangers unfold across eating disorders is limited. Using structural equation modeling (SEM-ED), the research investigates teenage symptom trajectories, temporal precedence, risk variables, and population-attributable fractions in a community. This review study explores evidence for the interpersonal model of various ED diagnoses, revealing a unique interpersonal profile for individuals with eating disorders and highlighting specific interpersonal difficulties linked to worse treatment outcomes. The findings suggest a cyclical association between ED psychopathology and relationship issues through negative affect. Structural equation modeling-based result forecasting models prove highly reliable for ED expectations, which are split between those related to eating disorders and those associated with non-food-related psychological disorders.