title: The relationship between decision-making and perfectionism in obsessive-compulsive disorder and eating disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and eating disorders (EDs) show phenotypic similarities and have been independently associated with deficits in decision-making and maladaptive perfectionism. However, research directly comparing the two disorders is sparse and the significance of observed similarities remains in question. Therefore, the present study compared decision-making in OCD and EDs in relationship to perfectionistic personality traits.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-one women were enrolled in the study comprising 3 mutually exclusive groups: 19 with OCD, 17 with EDs, and 21 healthy controls. Decision-making performance on the Iowa Gambling Task under two conditions, ambiguity and risk, was examined in relationship to perfectionistic traits.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Behavioral results indicated that EDs participants, relative to both OCD and control participants, were impaired in decision-making under conditions of risk. Heightened perfectionism was associated with less risky decision-making in OCD, but more risky decision-making in EDs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sample size was small and all participants were women, which may limit generalizability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results support decision-making deficits in EDs, which may be related to a dysfunctional determination of risk versus reward. This study is the first to suggest that the relationship between perfectionism and risk taking may manifest differently in these phenotypically similar disorders.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University Medical School and Butler Hospital, Providence, RI 02906, USA. Christina_boisseau@brown.edu
authors: Christina L
authors: CL
authors: Boisseau
authors: Heather
authors: H
authors: Thompson-Brenner
authors: Elizabeth M
authors: EM
authors: Pratt
authors: Todd J
authors: TJ
authors: Farchione
authors: David H
authors: DH
authors: Barlow
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling; D006801:Humans; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D035501:Uncertainty