ABSTRACT

Given that bulimia nervosa was not formally recognized as a diagnostic category until 1980 (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1980), it is not surprising that research has only recently focused on the etiology of this eating disorder. Although its cause is generally recognized to be complex, considerable speculation remains regarding the relative impact and interaction of various individual, familial, and sociocultural factors. Early chapters in this volume address the role of puberty, with its inherent physiological and psychological changes, as a critical developmental transition point for the development of eating problems and eating disorders. As well, the individual and familial factors that may increase an individual's vulnerability during this time period are considered. Later chapters focus more specifically on individual psychological characteristics that may increase the likelihood that an adolescent girl will develop subsequent eating disturbance. Across the chapters, there is variability as to whether the authors discuss characteristics that distinguish bulimic versus non-eating-disordered populations as opposed to bulimic versus subclinical eating-disordered populations. As a result, authors differ on the etiological significance they ascribe to those factors that predict maladaptive eating attitudes and behaviors and whether these attitudes and behaviors are conceptualized as precursors to the clinically more severe eating pathology. Underlying all of these chapters is a growing recognition of the need for additional research regarding the cause of bulimia nervosa.