Depression influences the EDI scores in anorexia nervosa patients

Aim.-To study the influence of the severity of depression on the eating disorder's inventory (EDI) scores in anorexia nervosa (AN) patients. Method.-We compared by variance analysis the EDI scores from three groups of AN patients: 55 patients having a major depression (as assessed by a Beck's depression inventory (BDI) greater than or equal to 16); 77 patients having a less severe depression (BDI < 16); 32 patients with mild or non-existent depression (BDI 5 7) and the EDI scores from a control group of 29 French healthy young women. Results.-Higher EDI scores were elicited in the more severely depressed AN patients than in the less- or non-depressed AN patients (P < 0.01). In non-depressed AN patients, none of the scores was different from those of the control group. This was particularly true for the scores "Slimness wish", "bulimia", "body image dissatisfaction", "perfectionism" and "fear of maturity". The non-depressed restrictive AN patients had no score which differ from healthy controls. Discussion.-The present results suggested that the EDI scores are clearly influenced by the severity of depression. Among the psychopathological and behavioural traits assessed with the EDI, only a few were not related to depressive symptoms: "feeling of inefficiency" and "distrust in interpersonal relations". (C) 2003 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.