Persoonlijkheidskenmerken van eetstoornispatiënten: Een Onderzoek met de Temperament en Character Inventory

Abstract

Objective: The DSM-IV-TR criteria do not seem to succeed in distinguishing the different eating disorders correctly, partly because of the high rates of crossover between eating disorders. Research on personality traits may elucidate some specific features of eating disordered patients, other than the official criteria. Above that, most research has been done on Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN), and little on Eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS). Method: The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was administered to 67 AN patients (43 restrictive, 24 binge/purging), to 17 BN patients and to 44 EDNOS patients. Results: Eating disordered patients were characterized by high Harm Avoidance, high Obsessivity, and low Self Directedness. AN patients and BN patients differed on Novelty Seeking, Impulsivity and Extravagance, and Self Directedness, with the highest scores for BN patients. ANP patients seemed to have a personality in between ANR and BN patients. The same seemed the case for EDNOS patients. Discussion: Crossover between diagnoses often occurs and research on the personality traits of patients who do crossover and patients who do not crossover seems to have clinical implications. More research on EDNOS patients needs to be done as well to explore the assumption that EDNOS might not be a distinct eating disorder but just a fase in between AN and BN.