FPI profiles in a European sample of 1068 female patients suffering from anorexia or bulimia nervosa

Personality correlates of eating pathology severity and subtypes in The National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement

OBJECTIVE

We examined how personality traits are associated with eating pathology (EP) across a range of severities and symptom subtypes.

METHOD

The National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement (N = 10,148) was used to compare personality across severities (i.e., clinical Eating Disorders [EDs], subclinical disordered eating, preclinical weight concerns, or no weight/EP [no W/EP]), subclinical subtypes (i.e., Binge Eating Only, Binge-Purge, Binge-Restrict, Restrict-Purge, or no W/EP), and clinical subtypes (i.e., Anorexia Nervosa [AN]), Bulimia Nervosa [BN], Binge Eating Disorder [BED], internalizing disorders, or no ED or internalizing disorder) of EP.

RESULTS

More severe EP was associated with more extreme personality trait endorsements. Impulsivity-related traits did not consistently distinguish binge eating/purging from restricting subtypes, although behavioral disinhibition differentiated adolescents with BN or BED from AN.

CONCLUSION

Personality traits related to affectivity and impulsivity were more consistently associated with severity rather than subtype of EP.

Self-monitoring in anorexia nervosa

BACKGROUND

A possible connection between Mark Snyder's concept of self-monitoring and anorexia nervosa (AN) has not previously been examined.

AIMS

We hypothesized that AN symptomatology correlates positively with the Other-Directedness aspect of Snyder's self-monitoring construct and negatively with its Extraversion aspect.

METHOD

194 women with a history of AN were classified as currently ill (n = 17), partially recovered (n = 106) and recovered (n = 71).These women and 100 female controls with no history of an eating disorder completed Snyder's Self-Monitoring Scale (SMS) and the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26). ;Other-Directedness' and ;Acting and Extraversion'subscales were derived from an exploratory factor analysis of the Hebrew version of the SMS. Mean total and subscale scores were compared across groups, and correlations were calculated between EAT-26 scores and SMS total and subscale scores.

RESULTS

Both subscales of the SMS correlated significantly with total scores but not with one another. As expected, AN symptomatology and EAT-26 scores were associated positively with Other-Directedness yet negatively with Acting and Extraversion, rendering the correlation with total SMS scores insignificant.

CONCLUSION

Different aspects of Snyder's self-monitoring construct correlate in opposite directions with eating pathology and AN symptomatology. AN appears to be associated with high Other-Directedness but low Acting and Extroversion.