Research has found that Black women are at greater or equal risk of developing binge eating disorder than white women. However, binge eating disorder is a growing issue that continues to affect more populations. Furthermore, racial minorities with binge eating disorder are less likely than white BED patients to seek help or treatment.

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Several risk factors have been found to be associated with an increased likelihood of developing binge eating disorder:

- Minority status(es)
- Low socioeconomic status
- Trauma/violence
- Body dissatisfaction
- Comorbid psychiatric conditions

Binge Eating Disorder Risk Factors

Keski-Rahkonen, A. (2021). Epidemiology of binge eating disorder: Prevalence, course, comorbidity, and risk factors. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 34(6), 525-531.

Epidemiology of Binge Eating Disorder: Prevalence, Course, Comorbidity, and Risk Factors

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

Sexual minority status appears to be associated with a greater likelihood of developing binge eating disorder. One meta-analysis found that only 0.8% of heterosexual research participants met binge eating disorder criteria, in contrast to 2.2% of non-heterosexual participants.

Sexual Minority Status and Binge Eating Disorder Risk

Low SES individuals are at greater risk of binge eating disorder than high SES individuals and report more binge-eating.

Socioeconomic Status and Binge Eating Disorder Risk

Childhood trauma and other traumatic events are associated with a greater risk of the development of binge eating disorder. Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse are often reported by binge eating disorder patients, especially among college-aged women in the United States. Those who experienced and witnessed violence, especially weight-related bullying and violence, are also at increased risk of the disorder. Furthermore, many patients report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, indicating that binge-eating serves as a coping mechanism for traumatic stressors.

Trauma/Violence and Binge Eating Disorder Risk

Body dissatisfaction; excessive concern over one's body, weight, or figure; and internalized idealization of thinness not only increase the risk of binge eating disorder development, but also are associated with more severe global impairment. Those who are overweight and have a history of dieting are thus at greater risk of the disorder.

Body Dissatisfaction and Binge Eating Disorder Risk

Those with pre-existing psychiatric condition(s) are at greater risk of binge eating disorder. For example, high-risk groups such as war veterans display a greater number of eating disorder symptoms and have higher rates of BED than the general population. Furthermore, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder patients similarly have higher-than-normal rates of BED, and alarmingly high rates (18.7%) of subthreshold BED, often as a result of prescribed atypical antipsychotics, specifically clozapine and olanzapine.

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