51. Obsessive–compulsive symptoms in young women affected with anorexia nervosa, and their relationship with personality, psychopathology, and attachment style
- Author
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Federico Amianto, Chiara Davico, Benedetto Vitiello, Luca Arletti, Ilaria Secci, and Giovanni Abbate Daga
- Subjects
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder ,050103 clinical psychology ,Personality Inventory ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Anorexia nervosa ,Personality Disorders ,03 medical and health sciences ,Toronto Alexithymia Scale ,Phobic anxiety ,0302 clinical medicine ,Attachment style ,medicine ,Attachment theory ,Humans ,Personality ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Personality traits ,Big Five personality traits ,Obsessive–compulsive symptoms ,media_common ,Y-BOCS ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,05 social sciences ,medicine.disease ,030227 psychiatry ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Clinical Psychology ,Anxiety ,Female ,Temperament and Character Inventory ,medicine.symptom ,Psychology ,Psychopathology ,Clinical psychology - Abstract
Purpose Obsessive–compulsive symptoms (OC) are associated with greater morbidity and worse prognosis in anorexia nervosa (AN). We assessed the presence of non-eating OC in participants with AN and related them with their psychopathology, personality, and attachment style features. Methods Young women with AN (N = 41, 30 restrictor and 11 binge-purging type) were assessed on the Yale-Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). These participants with AN and 82 healthy controls (HC) completed the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ). The association between Y-BOCS scores and indexes of psychopathology, personality, and attachment were examined. Results AN had significantly higher scores than HC on the EDI-2, SCL-90, TAS-20, ASQ-Need for Approval, and TCI-Harm Avoidance and Self-directedness. The Y-BOCS scores were significantly correlated with ASQ-Need for Approval, TAS-20-Difficulty in Describing Feelings, SCL-90-Phobic Anxiety, and Anxiety, EDI-2-Drive to Thinness, and Asceticism. Need for Approval displayed the strongest correlation with OC symptoms. Difficulty in describing feelings displayed the strongest correlation with compulsive OC symptoms. Conclusions OC traits in AN were primarily associated with measures of insecure attachment rather than to their eating disorder or general psychopathology. Therapeutic approaches to correcting insecure attachment may be considered as a possible approach to treating AN patients with OC. The study supports a new psychopathological perspective for understanding the meaning of OC symptoms in AN. Level of evidence III: Evidence obtained from cohort or case–control analytic studies.
- Published
- 2021
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