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Obsessive‐compulsive and eating disorders: Comparison of clinical and personality features
Author(s) -
JIMÉNEZMURCIA SUSANA,
FERNÁNDEZARANDA FERNANDO,
RAICH ROSA M.,
ALONSO PINO,
KRUG ISABEL,
JAURRIETA NURIA,
ÁLVAREZMOYA EVA,
LABAD JAVIER,
MENCHÓN JOSE M.,
VALLEJO JULIO
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1819.2007.01673.x
Subject(s) - perfectionism (psychology) , bulimia nervosa , eating disorders , psychology , anorexia nervosa , psychiatry , eating disorder inventory , comorbidity , clinical psychology , personality , big five personality traits , beck depression inventory , personality disorders , psychopathology , anxiety , social psychology
The aim of the present study was to determine whether anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) and obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) share clinical and psychopathological traits. The sample consisted of 90 female patients (30 OCD; 30 AN; 30 BN), who had been consecutively referred to the Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge, Barcelona. All subjects met DSM‐IV criteria for those pathologies. The assessment consisted of the Maudsley Obsessive‐Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), Questionnaire of obsessive traits and personality by Vallejo, Eating Attitudes Test‐40 (EAT‐40), Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). ancova tests (adjusted for age and body mass index) and multiple linear regression models based on obsessive‐compulsiveness, obsessive personality traits and perfectionism, as independent variables, were applied to determine the best predictors of eating disorder severity. On ancova several significant differences were found between obsessive‐compulsive and eating‐disordered patients (MOCI, P < 0.001; EAT, P < 0.001; EDI, P < 0.001), whereas some obsessive personality traits were not eating disorder specific. A total of 16.7% OCD patients presented a comorbid eating disorder, whereas 3.3% eating disorders patients had an OCD diagnosis. In the eating disorder group, the presence of OC symptomatology was positively associated ( r = 0.57, P < 0.001) with the severity of the eating disorder. The results were maintained after adjusting for comorbidity. Although some obsessive‐compulsive and eating disorder patients share common traits (e.g. some personality traits especially between OCD and AN), both disorders seem to be clinically and psychopathologically different.