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Personality traits in women with anorexia nervosa: Evidence for a treatment‐seeking bias?
Author(s) -
Perkins Patrick S.,
Klump Kelly L.,
Iacono William G.,
McGue Matt
Publication year - 2005
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.20064
Subject(s) - psychology , personality , anorexia nervosa , seekers , clinical psychology , population , big five personality traits , psychiatry , eating disorders , demography , social psychology , sociology , political science , law
Objective Several personality traits have been associated with anorexia nervosa (AN) in treatment‐seeking samples of patients. The current study used a population‐based sample to compare the personality characteristics of women with AN who sought treatment versus those who did not. Method Participants included 27 (14 treatment‐seekers, 13 non‐treatment‐seekers) women with threshold or subthreshold AN and 273 (64 treatment seekers, 209 non‐treatment seekers) comparison women from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Personality was assessed with the higher‐order factors and primary scales of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). Results Non–treatment‐seeking women showed lower levels of negative emotionality, stress reaction, and alienation than treatment‐seeking women. Discussion These results suggest that personality deviations may be overestimated in treatment‐seeking samples. © 2004 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.