Coping strategies adopted when faced with stress and eating disorders: A systematic review.

Eating disorders (EDs) are a group of disorders characterized by altered eating behaviors and/or the emergence of behaviors pertaining to weight control. Some studies report a relationship between coping strategies adopted in the face of stress and EDs. However, the latest review on this topic was carried out in 2008 by Quiles & Terol. A systematic review of studies that have investigated the relationship between coping strategies and EDs in clinical (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder) and non-clinical populations, aged 12-25 years has been conducted. Articles in English and Spanish were selected from Web of Science and Psycinfo databases in the last 15 years. Eighteen articles were finally included in the review. The results show a higher use of negative, avoidant, and emotion-focused coping strategies in populations with eating disorders or with high scores on questionnaires; additionally, results uncovered a higher use of positive coping strategies in populations without eating disorders or with low scores on questionnaires measuring ED symptomatology.