Motivators for smoking in women with eating disorders

Women with eating disorders sometimes smoke to control their weight. This study examined the relative contributions of the range of factors that motivate smoking in women with eating disorders. Twenty-five women with anorexia nervosa and 16 women with bulimia nervosa were compared with 21 women with a depressive mood disorder. Each completed measures of current and lifetime prevalence of smoking, motivation to smoke and dependence on smoking. Smoking was less prevalent in anorexia nervosa than in bulimia nervosa or in mood disorders. Although the eating-disordered women had a higher motivation to smoke for weight control than the mood-disordered group, overall motivation to smoke was higher in the eating-disordered women. Their strongest motivator for smoking was coping with stress. The eating-disordered women showed similar levels of dependence on smoking to the mood-disordered group, but tended to have a lower desire to give up smoking. Clinical interventions for women with eating disorders who smoke might be targeted at helping them cope with stress, as well as viewing their smoking as a method of weight control. Assessment of women with eating disorders should address the use of nicotine and motivations for its use, to help identify targets for intervention. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.