The aim of this study was to ascertain the time-use patterns of those with binge eating disorder and to determine whether the disorder has an impact on everyday activities (occupations). Mixed method questionnaires, with open and closed questions, and time-use diaries were completed by 10 participants recruited through a self-help charity group. The findings suggest that the time-use patterns of those with binge eating disorder were comparable to the patterns of the general population within the United Kingdom, with the exception of eating and socialising. Three major themes emerged: preoccupation with food, body image concerns and impact on relationships. These suggest that binge eating disorder has an impact on self-care, leisure and productivity occupations. The questionnaires revealed additional eating-related occupations, undertaken while participating in other occupations. The identification of all occupations is important to enable health care professionals to understand the meaning and purpose of the occupational engagement of each individual with binge eating disorder.
AliagaCWinqvistK (2003) How women and men spend their time. Reports from 13 European countries. Luxembourg: Statistical Office of the European Communities.
2.
AndersonADiDomenicoL (1992) Diet vs shape content of popular male and female magazines: a dose-response relationship to the incidence of eating disorders?International Journal of Eating Disorders, 11, 283–87.
3.
American Psychiatric Association (1995) Diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders text revision, 4th ed.Washington: APA.
4.
BarrisR (1986) Occupational dysfunction and eating disorders: theory and approach to treatment. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 6 (1), 27–45.
5.
BejerholmUHanssonLEklundM (2006) Profiles of Occupational Engagement in people with Schizophrenia (POES): the development of a new instrument based on time-use diaries. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69 (2), 58–68.
6.
BenjaminLWulfertE (2005) Dispositional correlates of addictive behaviors in college women: binge eating and heavy drinking. Eating Behaviors, 6 (3), 197–209.
7.
British Medical Association Board of Science and Education (2000) Eating disorders, body image and the media. London: BMA.
8.
BrownellK (1991) Dieting and the search for the perfect body: where physiology and culture collide. Behaviour Therapy, 22, 1–12.
9.
BrymanA (1996) Quantity and quality in social research. London: Routledge.
10.
CashTPruzinskyT, eds (1990) Body images: development, deviance and change. New York: Guilford Press.
11.
ChristiansenCTownsendE (2004) Introduction to occupation. In: ChristiansenCTownsendE, eds. Introduction to occupation: the art and science of living. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1–27.
12.
College of Occupational Therapists (2000) Code of ethics and professional conduct for occupational therapists. London: COT.
13.
CoolicanH (1996) Introduction to research methods and statistics in psychology. 2nd ed.London: Hodder and Stoughton.
14.
CreekJ, ed (2002) Occupational therapy and mental health. 3rd ed.Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
15.
CresswellJ (1998) Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among the five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
16.
CristPDavisCCoffinP (2000) The effects of employment and mental health status on the balance of work, play/leisure, self-care, and rest. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 15, 27–42.
17.
CrowtherJSanftnerJBonifaziDShepherdK (2001) The role of daily hassles in binge eating. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 29, 449–54.
18.
DevlinMGoldfeinJDobrowI (2003) What is this thing called BED? Current status of binge eating disorder nosology. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 34 (Suppl), S2–19.
19.
Eurostat (2004) Guidelines on harmonised European time use surveys. Luxembourg: Statistical Office of the European Communities.
20.
FairburnCG (1995) Overcoming binge eating. New York: Guilford Press.
21.
FarnworthL (2004) Time use and disability. In: MolineuxM, ed. Occupation for occupational therapists. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 46–65.
22.
GowersSShoreA (2001) Development of weight and shape concerns in the aetiology of eating disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 179, 236–42.
23.
HarveyA (1999) Guidelines for time use data collection and analysis. In: HarveyAMcCollMLPentlandWLawtonM Powell, eds. Time use research in the social sciences. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 19–42.
24.
HarveyAPentlandW (1999) Time use research. In: HarveyAMcCollMLPentlandWLawtonM Powell, eds. Time use research in the social sciences. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 3–14.
25.
HarveyAPentlandW (2004) What do people do? In: ChristiansenCTownsendE, eds. Introduction to occupation: the art and science of living. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 63–88.
26.
HayesRHalfordW (1996) Time use of unemployed and employed single male schizophrenia subjects. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 22 (4), 659–69.
27.
HeinbergL (1996) Theories of body image disturbance: perceptual, developmental, and sociocultural factors. In: ThompsonJ, ed. Body image, eating disorders, and obesity: an integrative guide for assessment and treatment. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
28.
LaderDShortSGershunyJ (2006) The Time Use Survey 2005: how we spend our time. London: Office of National Statistics.
29.
LyonsM (1998) The phenomenon of compulsive overeating in a selected group of professional women. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 27 (6), 1158–64.
30.
NardiPM (2003) Doing survey research: a guide to quantitative methods. New York: Allyn and Bacon.
31.
Office for National Statistics (2005) Key population and vital statistics, 2003. Available at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk Accessed on 01.07.06.
32.
RichensM (1991) Social comparison and the idealised images of advertising. Journal of Consumer Research, 18, 71–83.
33.
SarasonISarasonB (1996) Abnormal psychology: the problem of maladaptive behaviour. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
34.
Shearsmith-FarthingK (2001) The management of altered body image: a role for occupational therapy. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64 (8), 386–92.
35.
ShimitrasLFosseyEHarveyC (2003) Time use of people living with schizophrenia in a North London catchment area. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66 (2), 46–54.
36.
SilvermanD (2000) Doing qualitative research: a practical handbook. London: Sage.
37.
SpitzerRDevlinMWalshBHasinDWingRMarcusMStunkardAWaddenTYanovskiSAgrasSMitchellJNonasC (1992) Binge eating disorder: a multisite field trial of the diagnostic criteria. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 11 (3), 191–203.
38.
SticeE (2002) Sociocultural influences on body image and eating disturbance. In: FairburnCBrownellK, eds. Eating disorders and obesity: a comprehensive handbook. 2nd ed.New York: Guilford Press.
39.
StonePNicolsonN (1987) Infrequently occurring activities and contexts in time use data. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders, 175 (9), 519–25.
40.
TamCKMNgCFNYuCMYoungBWY (2007) Disordered eating attitudes and behaviours among adolescents in Hong Kong: prevalence and correlates. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health (OnlineEarly Articles). doi:10.1111://j.1440–1754.2007.01195.x.
41.
TiggemanMPickeringA (1996) Role of the television in adolescent women's body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 20, 199–203.
42.
TownsendE (1997) Occupation: potential for personal and social transformation. Journal of Occupational Science, 4 (1), 18–26.
43.
WallerG (2003) Schema-level cognitions in patients with binge eating disorder: a case control study. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 33, 458–64.
44.
WilcockA (1998) An occupational perspective of health. Thorofare, NJ: Slack.
45.
YanovskiS (2003) Binge eating disorder and obesity in 2003: could treating an eating disorder have a positive effect on the obesity epidemic?International Journal of Eating Disorders, 34 (Suppl), 117–21.
