Eating Behaviors Associated with Suicidal Behaviors and Overall
Risk
Maladaptive eating behaviors are prevalent and formal diagnoses of
eating pathology (eating “disorders; EDs) have been on the rise over
the past several decades (Galmiche et al., 2019). In the United States,
approximately 30 million individuals will struggle with an ED at some
point in their lifetime (Deloitte Access Economics, 2020; Galmiche et
al., 2019; Le Grange et al., 2012). Research has demonstrated that a
significant percentage of U.S. college students engage in maladaptive
eating behaviors, with 40.2% indicating they had engaged in at least
one binge eating episode and 30.2% reported that they had engaged in at
least one compensatory behavior in the past month (Lipson & Sonneville,
2017). Not only are maladaptive eating behaviors prevalent, theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fifth
Edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) states EDs have
the highest mortality rate of any other mental illness, with studies
indicating that 10,200 deaths per year are a direct result of an ED
(Deloitte Access Economics, 2020). Suicide risk is substantially
elevated among individuals diagnosed with EDs, and even subclinical
levels of maladaptive eating behaviors are associated with suicidality
(American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Lipson & Sonneville, 2020).
The current study examines the relationship between specific problematic
eating behaviors (e.g., purging, binging, laxative use) and specific
suicide-related behaviors as well as overall suicide risk.