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Temperament and character profile of eating disorders: A controlled study with the Temperament and Character Inventory
Author(s) -
Fassino Secondo,
AbbateDaga Giovanni,
Amianto Federico,
Leombruni Paolo,
Boggio Sonia,
Rovera Gian Giacomo
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.10099
Subject(s) - harm avoidance , reward dependence , novelty seeking , cooperativeness , temperament and character inventory , psychology , temperament , persistence (discontinuity) , bulimia nervosa , personality , binge eating , eating disorders , personality disorders , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , social psychology , engineering , geotechnical engineering
Objective The question whether anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) are different disorders or the extremes of a psychopathologic spectrum still has no definite answer. A way to face this problem is to examine the personality traits underlying these disorders. Method The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was administered to 141 anorectics (70 Restrictor and 71 Binge‐purging), to 102 bulimics, and to 100 controls. The Temperament and Character Inventory main scales are Novelty Seeking, Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence, Persistence, Self‐Directedness, Cooperativeness, and Self‐Transcendence. Results The personality profiles that emerged are characterized by low Novelty Seeking, high Harm Avoidance, high Persistence, and low Self‐Directedness in AN, and by high Novelty Seeking, high Harm Avoidance, and low Self‐Directedness in BN. Binge‐purging anorectics showed a personality profile midway between anorectics and bulimics. Discussion The dimensional study of personality through the TCI and its facets seems effective in discriminating the personality traits underlying the different subtypes of Eating Disorders. The hypothesis of an Eating Disorders spectrum and its clinical implications are discussed. © 2002 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 32: 412–425, 2002.