Anorexia Nervosa and Obesity: A Psychological Health Comparison

The aim of this pilot study was to compare psychopathological features and psychological health between women presenting anorexia nervosa (AN) and those presenting obesity (OB). Six AN patients (Body mass index: BMI <15) and six OB patients (BMI >40) completed Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI- 2). These instruments are self-administered questionnaires for adults. The women also provided information on their global functioning (GAF), according to DSM-IV, through a clinical interview. The AN patients expressed significantly more alexithymic symptoms (TAS-20), more psychological symptoms on the EDI-2 sub-scales, and lower global functioning (GAF) than the OB patients. There were no differences in depression rating or general psychopathology as measured by the BDI, SCL- 90 or MMPI-2. The present results depict certain indications that the psychological health of the AN patients was more compromised than it was among the OB patients.