Personality and self-concept in subgroups of patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

The question of subgroups in eating disorders was addressed in this study. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, IV, the two subtypes for anorexia nervosa are restricting and binge-eating/purging. For bulimia nervosa, the subtypes are purging and nonpurging. An attempt was made here to examine alternative ways to create meaningful subgroups in the eating-disordered patient group. A cluster analysis was performed in a group of 52 female patients (AN=21, BN=31). Fifty-five undergraduate students served as a control group. Three self-report instruments were used: the Eating Disorder Inventory-2, Karolinska Scales of Personality, and Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. The results reveal three different groups of patients. Factors like poor interoceptive ability and high degree of somatization differentiate between the groups, and contribute to severity of pathology, as well as to lower levels of self-concept.