Development of an assessment guide for a proposed eating disorder : orthorexia nervosa
Date
2017
Authors
McAtee, Gavin
University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Education.
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Abstract
The term “orthorexia nervosa” is used to describe individuals whose restrictive dietary
practices and mental preoccupation with healthy food consumption have led to both
physical and mental deterioration. There is limited information available on the
assessment of orthorexia which makes it difficult for mental health clinicians to assess
whether their clients are potentially at-risk or suffering from orthorexia. The intent of this
project was to create an assessment guide that can be used by mental health practitioners
with the purpose of assessing whether a client is displaying behavioural and
psychological characteristics that would put them at-risk for orthorexia. The guide is
meant to serve as an assessment tool and is not meant to replace or make a diagnosis of a mental disorder. Using a three-stage decision tree model, the guide instructs practitioners to use clinical judgement and criterions to sequentially assess for client’s risk for orthorexia.
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Keywords
orthorexia nervosa , restrictive dietary practices , healthy food consumption preoccupation , Eating disorders , Eating disorders--Diagnosis