title: Stability of personality traits in patients who received intensive treatment for a severe eating disorder.
abstract: A longitudinal prospective design with four assessments was used to examine the stability of personality traits and their relation to recovery in patients with restrictive anorexia nervosa (N=35), bingeing/purging anorexia nervosa (N=37), bulimia nervosa (N=47), and eating disorder not otherwise specified (N=27). Recovery is associated with changes in personality traits in the direction of healthy control women. Recovered patients still show higher harm avoidance and higher persistence than healthy control women. These temperament factors seem to be a vulnerability factor for developing an eating disorder. Novelty seeking seems to define the type of eating disorder one is prone to develop. The character dimensions contribute the most to recovery. High self-directedness contributes to a favorable prognosis of bulimic symptomatology, whereas high cooperativeness contributes to an unfavorable prognosis in patients with anorexia nervosa.
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Eating Disorders, Robert Fleury Stichting, Leidschendam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bloks
authors.forename: Hans Wijbrand
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Hoek
authors.forename: Ineke
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Callewaert
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Furth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012074:Remission Induction; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013694:Temperament