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Assessing and Diagnosing Eating Disorders in Boys and Men: An Overview

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Eating Disorders in Boys and Men

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Abstract

Diagnosis provides means of communication, may serve to validate a person’s experience, and can inform treatment. It is imperative for clinicians to utilize appropriate diagnostic tools and best practices when diagnosing eating disorders. There are several considerations to take into account when assessing and diagnosing eating disorders in boys and men. Recent years have seen an increase in studies examining eating disorder symptoms among boys and men, and the notion that these issues do not affect this population has been unequivocally dismissed. However, the effects of this historical gender disparity in the eating disorder field persist, and researchers are just beginning to more fully understand the sometimes distinct nature of eating disorders among boys and men.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Subjective binge eating is similar to objective binge eating with respect to loss of control over eating, but the amount of food consumed in a subjective binge eating episode is not larger than what most people would consume under similar circumstances (i.e., a small or normal amount of food). Persons with any eating disorder diagnosis can experience subjective binge eating; objective binge eating is required to diagnose bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, UC San Diego Health Eating Disorders Center for Treatment and Research, San Diego, CA, USA

    Brittany K. Bohrer & Joseph M. Donahue

Authors
  1. Brittany K. Bohrer
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  2. Joseph M. Donahue
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Correspondence to Brittany K. Bohrer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Jason M. Nagata

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Tiffany A. Brown

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USC Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Stuart B. Murray

  4. Department of Medicine, Military Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (MiCOR) Program, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, The Metis Foundation, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Jason M. Lavender

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Bohrer, B.K., Donahue, J.M. (2021). Assessing and Diagnosing Eating Disorders in Boys and Men: An Overview. In: Nagata, J.M., Brown, T.A., Murray, S.B., Lavender, J.M. (eds) Eating Disorders in Boys and Men. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67127-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67127-3_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-67126-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-67127-3

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