Award Date

August 2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Committee Member

Shane Kraus

Second Committee Member

Stephen Benning

Third Committee Member

Brenna Renn

Fourth Committee Member

Kara Christensen

Fifth Committee Member

Elizabeth Lawrence

Number of Pages

138

Abstract

The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has had profound effects among many individuals with or at risk for eating disorders. The most common primary eating disorder is binge eating disorder which has uniquely reflected more similarities than differences among diverse populations compared to other eating disorder classifications. Considering the upsurge of prevalence rates of eating disorders during the pandemic, it is important to assess the rate of binge eating across the demographic strata to gain a better understanding of who is impacted and provide healing to those who are suffering. Screening for binge eating features across the United States (US) using validated measures is a critical first step for this undertaking. The current study examined exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis as well as measurement invariance of the Binge Eating Disorder Screener-7 (BEDS-7) across gender and sexual orientation, the prevalence of binge eating and co-occurring psychopathology (e.g., depression, anxiety, sexual trauma, alcohol use severity), and the moderating effects of COVID-19 pandemic stress and perceived degree of social support on binge eating and areas of psychopathology. Participants included a large and diverse US community sample of men and women across various demographic profiles (i.e., gender, age, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation). I first conducted exploratory factory analysis (EFA) to examine the factor structure of the BEDS-7, followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to verify the factor structure and establish the configural model. Next, I explored measurement invariance with the configural model by gender and sexual orientation. CFA supported a one-factor, six-item measure reflecting binge eating features. The BEDS-7 was noninvariant across gender and sexual orientation, thus a total score measuring overall features of binge eating was used in subsequent analyses. Cisgender women and those who identified as belonging to a gender minority reported higher binge eating features than cisgender men. Individuals belonging to a sexual minority group reported higher means of binge eating relative to heterosexual participants. The prevalence of binge eating features decreased as age increased. Those with lower than a college degree endorsed higher means of binge eating relative to those with a university degree. COVID-19 pandemic stress was associated with binge eating features; however, COVID19 pandemic stress did not serve as a significant moderator between psychopathology and binge eating features. Similarly, perceived social support indicated a negatively significant association with binge eating features but did not have a buffering effect between binge eating and psychopathology. Lastly, lack of perceived social support indicated a positive association between binge eating, however, did not moderate the association between binge eating and psychopathology. Taken together, screening of binge eating features in the community, such as in healthcare settings, may promote early identification of binge eating features who could then be referred for further evaluation and intervention.

Keywords

Binge eating disorder screener-7; COVID-19; Diversity; Factor structure; Invariance; Psychopathology

Disciplines

Clinical Psychology

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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