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.