title: Temperament, character, and personality disorder in bulimia nervosa.
abstract: In a sample of 76 women participating in a clinical treatment trial for bulimia nervosa, we examined the clinical differences between subjects with and without concurrent personality disorders and the ability of "self-directedness" (a character scale of Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory) to predict the presence of personality disorder. Sixty-three percent of the sample had at least one personality disorder diagnosis. Fifty-one percent of personality disorders were in cluster C, 41% were in cluster B, and 33% were in cluster A. The presence of personality disorder was associated with greater depressive symptoms, worse global functioning, laxative use, greater body dissatisfaction, higher harm avoidance, and lower self-directedness. As hypothesized, low self-directedness scores were associated with a markedly increased probability of a personality disorder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bulik
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Joyce
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Carter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002605:Character; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013694:Temperament