Binge eating disorder and eating self-efficacy in adults seeking bariatric surgery

This study assessed the relationships between binge eating disorder (BED) and eating self-efficacy in a sample of patients prior to bariatric surgery. The study also examined the extent that BED status accounted for variance in self-efficacy after controlling for demographic factors (age, sex and race), physical variables (comorbidities and body mass index [BMW and depressive symptoms. This was a cross-sectional study of pre-surgical data from patients seeking bariatric surgery at a university-based healthcare system (N = 98; mean +/- SD age of 46.2 +/- 12.5 years; BMI of 45.4 +/- 7.2 kg/m(2); 86.7% female; and 60.2% of patients self-identified as White). Patients completed the Weight and Lifestyle Inventory (WALT), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire. Of the total sample, 15.3% met criteria for BED, 33.7% had subthreshold BED and 51.0% were free of this disorder. In adjusted analyses, total self-efficacy was significantly lower in patients with subthreshold BED (B +/- SE - 15.88 +/- 7.23, p- .03) and individuals with BED (B +/- SE = 35.07 +/- 10.23, p = .001) than in those without BED. Patients with BED, compared to those without, had significantly worse scores (in adjusted analyses) on the self-efficacy subscales of negative emotions (p = .003), availability of food (p < .001), social pressure (p = .004) and positive activities (p = .03). In patients seeking bariatric surgery, total self-efficacy scores were significantly lower in patients with BED and subthreshold BED than those without BED. The results suggest that eating self-efficacy may be an important factor to target in patients with BED who seek bariatric surgery.