Biopsychology of Emotions, the facial feedback hypothesis of emotional experience

Biopsychology of Emotions, the facial feedback hypothesis of emotional experience

Abstract

This paper reviews ten articles from the Walden Library related to the facial feedback hypothesis of emotional experience. The peer reviewed articles range in topic and look at research on facial expression from various angles. The facial expression hypothesis of emotional experience research is reviewed in reference to gender specifics, age variations, disease or personality disorders and learning abilities. The paper concludes after we integrate our review of past research on facial feedback we find scope for further research in facial feedback hypothesis that may differ with subject to culture and lifestyle.

 Introduction

Facial feedback hypothesis of emotional expression is the concept that facial expressions have a connection to emotions and provide the key to feelings (Azar, 2000). The face is one of the most affluent sources of communicating emotional and social information. It is also capable of spawning many expressions with all the muscles it is equipped with (Senechel et al, 2013). The facial feedback theory is an important part of many modern theories of emotions. The study of facial expression of emotion has also been focused on with theoretical controversy and pragmatic research. Ekman (1993) reviews if facial expressions really depict emotions and if they are culturally, universally specific.

Facial expression as an indication of emotions and feelings is not an uncommon phenomenon. In daily life to judge a person’s thoughts and feelings in connection with their facial expression is ordinary practice. During the 2012 Olympics, artistic gymnast Makayla Maroney became famous for her athletic abilities. She also got renowned for a facial expression that she exhibited when awarded a silver medal (Sénéchal et al, 2013). The idea more interesting than Makayla’s expression was how different observers interpreted her facial expression with varying meanings.

Ten articles on facial feedback hypothesis from Walden library

1. ‘Comparison of three theories relating facial expressiveness to blood pressure in male and female undergraduates’ –Davidson et al, 1994.

This article examines differing predictions of how emotional expressions and blood pressure are related. For this study spontaneous positive and negative facial expressions were measured for 148 male and female undergraduates. The resting systolic blood pressure (SBP), and reactive SBP were also accounted. Keeping in line with the discharge theory of emotions (few expressions will predict higher baseline SBP) results differed for men. On the other hand, women had an imbalance for negative and positive expressions in line with the mismatch theory.

2. Impaired recognition of prosody and subtle emotional facial expressions in Parkinson's disease.

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Buxton, Sharon L.; MacDonald, Lorraine; Tippett, Lynette J. Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol 127(2), Apr 2013, 193-203. doi: 10.1037/a0032013

Buxton et al (2013) introduce their study with the importance of correct recognition of emotional facial expressions. For a healthy and accurate social interaction, relationships it is important that the emotional expressions are accurately recognized. Patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease (PD) have seen to misunderstand or not recognize the facial expressions of others but some conflicting results of the theory have been found also. This study examines this conflict and uses 30 individuals who suffer from PD for the experiment. Their results show that patients suffering from PD recognize facial expressions of happiness more accurately compared to other subtle emotions expressed. The study also concludes that medicated PD individuals perform better at expressions recognition as compared to non medicated PD individuals.

3. Facial emotional processing in HIV infection: Relation to neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric status.

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Lane, Tammy A.; Moore, Danielle M.; Batchelor, Jennifer; Brew, Bruce J.; Cysique, Lucette A. Neuropsychology, Vol 26(6), Nov 2012, 713-722. doi: 10.1037/a0029964

The objective of this study is to examine facial emotional processing in HIV+ individuals and its relation to neuro cognitive performance, neuropsychiatric symptomatology and immune status. Participants included 85 HIV+ individuals (83 males, 2 females) and 25 same age HIV− individuals (22 males, 3 females). The used The University of Pennsylvania computerized neuropsychological facial emotion test battery, standardized neuropsychological testing, neurobehavioral questionnaires, a semi structured psychiatric interview. Results showed a slight difference for recognition of sadness, ability to distinguish between happiness and fear. It was also observed that HIV+ individuals with HIV-associated neuro cognitive disorder had abnormal emotional facial recognition and slower recognition of negative facial expressions. The study concludes that stable HIV+ individuals ‘show a mild level of emotional processing reduction that is dissociated from neuropsychiatric complaints’.

4. Recognition of facial expressions of mixed emotions in school-age children exposed to terrorism

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Scrimin, Sara; Moscardino, Ughetta; Capello, Fabia; Altoè, Gianmarco; Axia, Giovanna Developmental Psychology, Vol 45(5), Sep 2009, 1341-1352.

doi: 10.1037/a0016689

This study aims at investigating the effects of terrorism on children’s ability to recognize emotions. The method used was to study the facial expressions of children with mean age 11 years old after exposure to terrorist attack. A sample of 101 exposed and 102 non exposed children, balanced for age and gender were assessed. The assessment lasted for 20 months after a terrorist attack in Beslan, Russia. The results showed that the exposed children group was able to recognize ‘mixed emotion facial stimuli’ more than the unexposed children group. Scrimin et al concluded that exposed children labeled facial expression of anger and sadness more correctly than unexposed children.

5. The impact of facial emotional expressions on behavioral tendencies in women and men.

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Seidel, Eva-Maria; Habel, Ute; Kirschner, Michaela; Gur, Ruben C.; Derntl, Birgit

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol 36(2), Apr 2010, 500-507. doi:10.1037/a0018169

Seidel et al start their article with an emphasis on emotional faces used as a means to communicate the emotional state of a person. They add that emotional faces sometimes also convey the behavioral intentions of an individual. The facial expressions can also affect the behavior of the perceiver then. This study compares the behavioral reactions of the perceiver to facial expressions of happiness, sadness, disgust and anger. 55 females and 49 males who were Caucasian and similar in age from Vienna University participated in the study. Participants viewed 24 colored photographs of Caucasian actors that showed evoked facial expressions of emotions. The results showed evidence that men and women react almost similarly but there are differences in reactions to male and female faces. This reaction may be influenced by the socialization process and cultural differences. Results also showed a pattern of reactive behavior to specific facial expressions like avoidance for anger, approach for sad and happy expression, withdrawal for disgust.

6. Happy mouth and sad eyes: Scanning emotional facial expressions.

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Eisenbarth, Hedwig; Alpers, Georg W. Emotion, Vol 11(4), Aug 2011, 860-865.

doi: 10.1037/a0022758

For years eyes have been associated with emotional expression on the face. This study examines some specific regions of the face like the mouth and eyes that are considered vital in facial expression of emotions. The method involved eye tracking to monitor ‘scanning’ behavior of participants while they look at different facial expressions. Duration and location of fixations were recorded along with a dominance ratio (eyes and mouth to the rest of the face). The study concluded that there is a relation between eyes and mouth in emotional decoding. The results also show that not all emotions are interpreted in not the same manner and confirm the relevance between facial expressions of emotions.

7. Categorical perception of emotional facial expressions does not require lexical categories.

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Sauter, Disa A.; LeGuen, Oliver; Haun, Daniel B. M. Emotion, Vol 11(6), Dec 2011, 1479-1483.  doi: 10.1037/a0025336

We know that our perception of others' emotional signals depend on the language we speak. This articles questions if it is the language or is it our perception regardless of language and culture? This article is more an investigation into the perception of emotions among various language groups. The process reveals that emotions are perceived on the basis of a biological process and not on lexical (related to a particular language) distinctions.

8. Age-related decrease in recognition of emotional facial and prosodic expressions.

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Lambrecht, Lena; Kreifelts, Benjamin; Wildgruber, Dirk. Emotion, Vol 12(3), Jun 2012, 529-539. doi: 10.1037/a0026827

This article starts with highlighting how crucial is the ability to recognize nonverbal emotional signals for successful social communication at any age. Prior studies have shown connection between age and emotion recognition with a prosodic approach. This study aimed at using more natural settings by presenting stimuli under auditory, visual and audiovisual conditions. 44 mean and 40 women within the age range of 20-70 years were tested for their abilities to recognize non verbal emotions. The results showed a decline in age related abilities to recognize emotions independent of the kind of stimuli presented. The results suggest a change in cognitive abilities to understand emotions that go beyond the age related abilities.

9. Identification of emotional facial expressions following recovery from depression.

By

LeMoult, Joelle; Joormann, Jutta; Sherdell, Lindsey; Wright, Yamanda; Gotlib, Ian H.

Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol 118(4), Nov 2009, 828-833. doi:10.1037/a0016944

This study investigated the identification of facial expressions of emotion in currently non depressed participants. These participants have however, had a history of recurrent depressive by episodes (recurrent major depression; RMD) and never-depressed control participants (CTL). The participants were presented with faces with changing expressions from neutral to full intensity. Results were collected by the intensity of the expression correctly identified by the participant. There were no major group differences for sad and angry expressions, but CTL participants were able to identify expressions at a lower intensity compared to the RMD participants. The study concluded that despite being treated RMD participants had some bias towards facial expressions.

10. Gender differences in implicit and explicit processing of emotional facial expressions as revealed by event-related theta synchronization.

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Knyazev, Gennady G.; Slobodskoj-Plusnin, Jaroslav Y.; Bocharov, Andrey V. Emotion, Vol 10(5), Oct 2010, 678-687. doi: 10.1037/a0019175

This articles starts with the hypothesis that women are better interpreters of facial expressions as compared to men. It talks about facial expression of emotions as early as birth and infancy when a baby is unable to verbalize his emotions, and facial expressions are the key to what he is feelings. Facial expression of emotions is processed in two modes that are differently present in the conscious mind. These modes can be understood in connection with ‘event-related electroencephalogram’ (ERT) as a marker of facial expression processing. The ERT synchronization is more pronounced in the early processing stage compared to explicit processing. Early processing is more pronounced in men as compared to women and may be connected to differences in social behavior.

Further research

 I found articles and research on facial feedback hypothesis on emotional expression that account for age, gender and disease. I did not find enough literature however that investigates facial expression of emotions distinction in reference to culture. There was one article by Sauter et al (2011) on lexical distinctions not effecting facial expression recognition. Scope for further research is vast if facial feedback of emotional expression is investigated in different cultures and parts of the work. This can vary with how different cultures express, handle or understand happiness, anger, disgust and other basic emotions.

Another aspect of the topic is the lifestyle and prior training. A marine or veteran may have a controlled facial feedback of emotional expression as compared to a school teacher of young kids. Further research can be conducted in this range as well.

References

Azar, B. E. T. H. (2000). What's in a face?. Monitor on Psychology, 31(1), 44-45.

Buxton, S. L., MacDonald, L., & Tippett, L. J. (2013). Impaired recognition of prosody and subtle emotional facial expressions in Parkinson's disease. Behavioral Neuroscience, 127(2), 193

Davidson, K. W., Prkachin, K. M., Mills, D. E., & Lefcourt, H. M. (1994). Comparison of three theories relating facial expressiveness to blood pressure in male and female undergraduates. Health Psychology, 13(5), 404.

Ekman, P. (1993). Facial expression and emotion. American Psychologist,48(4), 384.

Eisenbarth, H., & Alpers, G. W. (2011). Happy mouth and sad eyes: Scanning emotional facial expressions. Emotion, 11(4), 860.

Knyazev, G. G., Slobodskoj-Plusnin, J. Y., & Bocharov, A. V. (2010). Gender differences in implicit and explicit processing of emotional facial expressions as revealed by event-related theta synchronization. Emotion, 10(5), 678.

Lambrecht, L., Kreifelts, B., & Wildgruber, D. (2012). Age-related decrease in recognition of emotional facial and prosodic expressions. Emotion, 12(3), 529.

 Lane, T. A., Moore, D. M., Batchelor, J., Brew, B. J., & Cysique, L. A. (2012). Facial emotional processing in HIV infection: Relation to Neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric status. Neuropsychology, 26(6), 713.

LeMoult, J., Joormann, J., Sherdell, L., Wright, Y., & Gotlib, I. H. (2009). Identification of emotional facial expressions following recovery from depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118(4), 828.

Sauter, D. A., LeGuen, O., & Haun, D. (2011). Categorical perception of emotional facial expressions does not require lexical categories. Emotion,11(6), 1479.

Scrimin, S., Moscardino, U., Capello, F., Altoè, G., & Axia, G. (2009). Recognition of facial expressions of mixed emotions in school-age children exposed to terrorism. Developmental Psychology, 45(5), 1341

Sénéchal, T., Turcot, J., & El Kaliouby, R. (2013). Smile or smirk? automatic detection of spontaneous asymmetric smiles to understand viewer experience. In Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition.

Stress prediction and management in parents of children diagnosed with Autism

    Abstract

This paper is aimed at understanding the research conducted on the stress and stressors involved in the daily life of parents of children who have Autism. Parenting a child who has been diagnosed with Autism can be a challenge without a good support system, special parenting techniques and in some cases without a proper diagnosis. Parents of Autistic children face social, personal, financial conditions that can be daunting. Such situations for any person can be a source of stress and give rise to stressors that need proper management. If these stressors are not handled with the right means, then they can take a toll on the parents mental and then eventually physical health as well. This paper suggests some techniques and strategies that would benefit this population in particular. These strategies are used and designed considering the specific situation faced by these parents with a child who suffers from Autism.

Target Population- Parents of Children having Autism

The number of children diagnosed today with Autism, medically known as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is much more than it was until few years ago. The CDC reports that today 1 out of 88 children is identified with ASD, where as in 2007 it was 1 out of 150 children (www.cdc.gov) and looking at data from previous years, it shows that the diagnosis has increased by 23 % every year.

This means that today the number of parents with children with Autism is also higher than it was few years. What is Autism? Autism is defined by APA as ‘the most severe developmental disability’. It appears ‘within the first three years of life, autism involves impairments in social interaction’ (Encyclopedia of Psychology, APA). The symptoms and behavior for people with autism can vary from not being aware of other people’s feelings to hurting themselves, from unusual eating, sleeping habits to have trouble communicating. Baird et al (2003) in their study on diagnosis of Autism defined Autism as ‘behaviorally defined disorder that’s the end point of several organic aetiologies’. At first Autism was linked to many prenatal exposure to chronic conditions, and then their study connected Autism to neurobiological disorder. They also add that the diagnosis of Autism typically happens between the ages of 2 and 3 years of age, which is conflict with some other researches, but their point on surveillance of the child’s behavior make it a valid age for diagnosis. This brings us to the age that Autism is mostly diagnosed is early child hood years and preschool age. Ostreling & Dawson (1994) did a study to understand the

Stress prediction ad management in parents of children diagnosed with Autism.

right age for diagnosing Autistic children, and their study said that though Autism is not usually diagnosed until age 4, but parents of these children report observing something unusual even before age one. They talk about using ‘retrospective’ technique to diagnose Autism in children younger than age four and having involvement by parents in reporting, observing to help with diagnosis. This study and the general idea that Autistic children show signs of their condition at a young age and that it has genetic factors related to it, makes it understandable what the parents of these children go through. It makes it more significant that the lives of parents with children having Autism can be stressed.  

Wolf et al (1996) reported in their study that parents of Autistic children tend to have a higher stress level than parents of children with Down syndrome or parents of developmentally average children. They added that parents of Autistic children had a compromise on their well being due to many reasons that include the unpredictable and the uncertain nature of Autism. Parenting to toddlers and young children can require lots of patience, understanding and organization to make it a stress free experience and successful. When the same experience changes for a bigger challenge and the children are facing disabilities like Autism, the stress for the parents can increase. This stress can be due to the parenting needs of the child, and for many other reasons as well that can act as stressors.  Dumas et al (1991) studied stress faced while parenting by parents of children diagnosed with Autism, Down syndrome and behavior disorders. Their results clearly showed that parents of children with Autism faced much higher levels of stress due to behavioral difficulties.

Common Stressors for this population and related health issues

There are some stressors that are common among the population of parents of Autistic children because of some specific challenges that these parents face due to the disability suffered by their child. This can include parenting challenges and other conditions like social support, financial constraints and family structure as well. Parents of more than one child may face stress when they observe the effects of their Autistic child on other siblings. Smith & Perry (2005) report that siblings of Autistic children feel neglected and pressured to excel and take household responsibilities. Finding the balance between all children can be a major stressor for these parents as the Autistic child may demand and require more attention that their siblings.

Parents feel stress in their marriage as well and mothers report to have facing more stress than fathers of Autistic children due to being more involved in parenting and caring for the child.

Dunn et al (2001) study shows that parents of Autistic children face more marital strain and dissatisfaction, lack of marital intimacy as compared to parents of normal kids. The parents of Autistic children can get effects of the parenting challenge of the Autistic child on their own relationship which can act as a stressor when trying to run a functional family and work as partners.  

The role of parents is major in an Autistic child’s life as they run the day to day life of the child. The behavioral symptoms may vary in every child, but the lack of understanding, social skills and inability to communicate and showing unusual is very common (mayoclinic.com).

 This was concluded by White et al (2009) as well when their study results showed that anxiety is very common among children with Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) and these children do not show anxiety that would be considered age appropriate.

For parents of Autistic children, managing small to major tasks in daily life can actually turn in chronic stress (a form of stress that you get used to because it is so often in your life) that can eventually start effecting their own health.  

Depression and isolation are some general health issues that can develop among parents of Autistic children as result of chronic stress.

Polawsky et al (2013) while looking at the parental reaction to diagnosis of their child with Autism found that these parents went into isolation, depression and negative feelings towards their spouses. This was found more common among mothers who admitted to being stressed.

 Parents are also capable of neglecting their own physical and mental health when caring for their Autistic children. It takes a lot of time and effort to learn your child’s specific symptoms, how to handle them and help your child. In the mean time without a good support system around, it’s not improbable that parents may be unable to attend to their own health needs.

Stress management strategies

 1. Social support is most important

 Social support can be formal or informal, it can come from family, friends, child’s school or neighbors. Zablotsky et al (2012) report that social support from neighborhood seems to have significant effect on the quality of life and stress faced by parents of children with ASD. They also add that social support can be ‘diverse’ coming from whomever the parents feel a connection with which can make a big difference.

A good communication and mutual efforts with the child’s educators is also very important. Social challenges for the children are mainly faced at schools and a bad experience can create a high level of stress for parents. This can be prevented if there is good and effective communication with the teachers, school of the child especially if the child has been diagnosed with less than sever symptoms of Autism and is able to attend school with normal kids.

2. Physical activity as a family

Lang et al (2010) report that physical activity actually benefits children and individuals with ASD if it is specifically designed to be carried out by them. This can be a great coping technique for the parents where after advice from the caretaker of the child, they can get involved in some form of physical activity with their child. This will benefit their health as well as their child.

3.Marriage therapy and family therapy

When you have a child with special needs in the family then they effects of that is felt by the parents as well as other siblings. Marital therapy can be a very good tool to help with the day to day stress that the parents relationship has on it. The best of partners can be affected by a stressful situation like raising a child with development disabilities. Added to that can be the situation of other siblings as well who maybe feeling neglected and lost in the scenario. Family therapy can be helpful to reconnect, bond and develop strong communication about how to deal with daily situations.

  

                                                                 References:

Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, United States, 2012. WWW.CDC.GOV.

Article on Autism, adapted from Encyclopedia of Psychology. www.apa.org

Baird, G., Cass, H., & Slonims, V. (2003). Diagnosis of autism. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 327(7413), 488.

Dumas, J. E., Wolf, L. C., Fisman, S. N., & Culligan, A. (1991). Parenting stress, child behavior problems, and dysphoria in parents of children with autism, Down syndrome, behavior disorders, and normal development. Exceptionality: A Special Education Journal, 2(2), 97-110.

Dunn, M. E., Burbine, T., Bowers, C. A., & Tantleff-Dunn, S. (2001). Moderators of stress in parents of children with autism. Community mental health journal,37(1), 39-52.

Lang, R., Koegel, L. K., Ashbaugh, K., Regester, A., Ence, W., & Smith, W. (2010). Physical exercise and individuals with autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 4(4), 565-576.

Osterling, J., & Dawson, G. (1994). Early recognition of children with autism: A study of first birthday home videotapes. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 24(3), 247-257.

Mayoclinic staff, Symptoms of Autism. Mayoclinic.com

Poslawsky, I. E., Naber, F. B., Van Daalen, E., & Van Engeland, H. (2013). Parental Reaction to Early Diagnosis of Their Children’s Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Exploratory Study. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 1-12.

Smith, T., & Perry, A. (2005). A sibling support group for brothers and sisters of children with autism. J Dev Disabil, 11, 77-88.

White, S. W., Oswald, D., Ollendick, T., & Scahill, L. (2009). Anxiety in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Clinical psychology review, 29(3), 216-229.

Wolf, L. C., Noh, S., Fisman, S. N., & Speechley, M. (1989). Brief report: Psychological effects of parenting stress on parents of autistic children. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 19(1), 157-166.

Zablotsky, B., Bradshaw, C. P., & Stuart, E. A. (2012). The Association Between Mental Health, Stress, and Coping Supports in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1-14.

PTSD in children

When I think of childhood and adolescent trauma, two major tragic events come to my mind: First, the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting event and second, the 9/11 incident. I can’t even imagine the trauma young children would have faced when the Sandy Hook elementary shooting took place. 9/11 was a traumatic event for adults and for children who lost parents, loved ones or were affected in indirect ways. I would like to base my discussion around these two incidents and the kind of traumas faced by children involved.

The kind of Post Trauma Stress Disorder (PTSD) I will discuss is one following a single event trauma and then the trauma of death of a parent. The events mentioned above did take place in United States, but PTSD among children is a global issue as reported by Ann Mccloskey & Walker (2000). They conducted a study to understand the development of PTSD among children as a result of repetitive traumatic events or a single traumatic event. Their results showed a significant number of children showing signs of PTSD and concluded that type 1 or type of traumatic events can cause PTSD among children irrespective of surroundings or location. Elahi et al (2009) studied the development of PTSD in children and adolescents when comparing groups who faced one single worse trauma to those who faced 2, 3 or 4 times trauma in their lives. Their study did not find a difference in the development of PTSD risks and found almost same number of cases among all four groups.

Stoppelbein & Greening (2000) studied PTSD symptoms among children bereaved by parental death and in a non trauma group as well. They concluded that children who had been bereaved by the death of a parent had more PTSD symptoms than non trauma or disaster experienced kids. Their results also showed that when the surviving parent suffered from PTSD the children were at a higher risk of developing PTSD as well. Single trauma events are like bombing or incidents like 9/11 can have effects similar to PTSD on young people.

Pfefferbaum et al (1999) studied psychological symptoms among high school and middle school students who were exposed to the Oklahoma City bombing across a range of losses and fears. Their results showed PTSD risks among the students and the impact of media had a strong connection to the youth’s reactions. Some researchers consider experiences of refugee children equivalent to trauma and report PTSD high at risk for this group of children. Heptinstall et al (2004) report that refugee children develop PTSD symptoms like depression and mental disorders, mostly post migration with signs of PTSD showing even in adulthood.

As mentioned earlier PTSD among children who lose a parent is more common if the surviving parent also suffers from PTSD. One strategy that maybe effective in an intervention aimed at helping children who experienced death of a parent would be to provide support to the surviving parent. If the surviving parent is equipped with effective coping strategies then he/ she may be able to overcome their PTSD. This will then have a strong impact on the child, adolescent in the form of parental support.

 ‘Time is the biggest healer’ and timing crucial when dealing with PTSD in children. Children go through phases of mental and physical growth more rapidly than adults. Their lives are changing at a faster speed as well with changes in peer pressures, physical changes and psychological needs from each parent. Sometimes children may not show signs of PTSD or develop PTSD until a long time after the trauma. For example if a young girl lost her mother then she may not felt her absence to an extreme until she reaches puberty or gets ready for dating. She may need her mother’s companionship more in teenage than as a little girl.

                                                            References

Ann McCloskey, Laura & Walker, M. (2000). Posttraumatic stress in children exposed to family violence and single-event trauma. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 39(1), 108-115.

Elhai, J. D., Engdahl, R. M., Palmieri, P. A., Naifeh, J. A., Schweinle, A., & Jacobs, G. A. (2009). Assessing posttraumatic stress disorder with or without reference to a single, worst traumatic event: Examining differences in factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 21(4), 629.

Heptinstall, E., Sethna, V., & Taylor, E. (2004). PTSD and depression in refugee children. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 13(6), 373-380.

Pfefferbaum, B., Nixon, S. J., Tucker, P. M., Tivis, R. D., Moore, V. L., Gurwitch, R. H.& Geis, H. K. (1999). Posttraumatic stress responses in bereaved children after the Oklahoma City bombing. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 38(11), 1372-1379.

Stoppelbein, L., & Greening, L. (2000). Posttraumatic stress symptoms in parentally bereaved children and adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 39(9), 1112-1119.

Binge eating among adolescents

Eating disorders are more common among adolescent females due to dieting in order to control weight (Hsu, 1989). However, the National Institute of Health (NIH) reports that eating disorders among men are under diagnosed and untreated (Strother et al, 2012). The numbers of eating disorders among men are on the rise and lack of proper intervention programs is one reason. Though research shows that adolescent females are at a higher risk of developing eating disorders, adolescent males are also not at a low risk. According to Ross & Ivis (1999) ‘binge eating’ disorder among male adolescents is also associated with higher possibilities of substance abuse or mental disorders.

Binge eating is ‘an eating disorder in which a person eats a much larger amount of food in a shorter period of time than he or she normally would and during binge eating, the person also feels a loss of control’ (NIH). This means that person suffering from binge eating would eat in between meals and 2-3 snack, consume between 5000-15000 calories in a sitting, overeats all day. Male adolescents who report binge eating report symptoms of depression, stress and some form of family function defect (Tanofsky-Kraff, 2008). Among the different disorders Binge eating is more likely to happen to adolescent males as research relates it to substance abuse and mental disorders. These two factors are at a higher risk for adolescent males as well and can cause binge eating disorder. Anorexia and Bulimia are usually associated with dieting, self-image (Smith et al, 1986), which are more common among adolescent women. According to Anderson (1999) eating disorders like binge eating among males maybe caused when in past they eat or diet to attain certain goals in sports. Indulgence in activities like video games, violent media exposure is also more common among male teenagers and this can lead to lack of physical exercise, aggression and behavioral problems (Konijn et al 2007). All these can then contribute to causes of eating disorders like binge eating.  

Research shows that male eating disorders are now known to be undiagnosed and untreated. The case of diagnosis and awareness of eating disorders among adolescent males maybe similar. One strategy to support control binge eating disorders among male adolescents is to highlight its importance among both genders. Self image, taking care of self is somewhat still unacceptable among teenage boys. To approach eating disorders as step towards good health in women and men is important. There would need to be a deliberate effort on part of school, counselors and family to highlight the effects of improper eating for males as much as for females.

References

Andersen, A. E. (1999). Eating disorders in males: Critical questions. Eating disorders: A reference sourcebook, 73-79.

Hsu, L. K. (1989). The gender gap in eating disorders: Why are the eating disorders more common among women?. Clinical Psychology Review, 9(3), 393-407.

Konijn, E. A., Nije Bijvank, M., & Bushman, B. J. (2007). I wish I were a warrior: the role of wishful identification in the effects of violent video games on aggression in adolescent boys. Developmental psychology, 43(4), 1038.

Ross, H. E., & Ivis, F. (1999). Binge eating and substance use among male and female adolescents. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 26(3), 245-260.

Smith, M. C., Pruitt, J. A., Mann, L. M., & Thelen, M. H. (1986). Attitudes and knowledge regarding bulimia and anorexia nervosa. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 5(3), 545-553.

Strother, E., Lemberg, R., Stanford, S. C., & Turberville, D. (2012). Eating disorders in men: underdiagnosed, undertreated, and misunderstood. Eating disorders, 20(5), 346-355.

Tanofsky-Kraff, M. (2008). Binge eating among children and adolescents.  In E. Jelalian & R. G. Steele (Eds.), Handbook of childhood and adolescent obesity (pp. 43–60). New York, NY: Springer.