Obsessive-compulsive symptoms in young women affected with anorexia nervosa, and their relationship with personality, psychopathology, and attachment style.

PURPOSE: Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OC) are associated with greater morbidity and worse prognosis in anorexia nervosa (AN). We assessed the presence of non-eating OC in participants with AN and related them with their psychopathology, personality, and attachment style features.

METHODS

Young women with AN (N = 41, 30 restrictor and 11 binge-purging type) were assessed on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). These participants with AN and 82 healthy controls (HC) completed the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ). The association between Y-BOCS scores and indexes of psychopathology, personality, and attachment were examined.

RESULTS

AN had significantly higher scores than HC on the EDI-2, SCL-90, TAS-20, ASQ-Need for Approval, and TCI-Harm Avoidance and Self-directedness. The Y-BOCS scores were significantly correlated with ASQ-Need for Approval, TAS-20-Difficulty in Describing Feelings, SCL-90-Phobic Anxiety, and Anxiety, EDI-2-Drive to Thinness, and Asceticism. Need for Approval displayed the strongest correlation with OC symptoms. Difficulty in describing feelings displayed the strongest correlation with compulsive OC symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

OC traits in AN were primarily associated with measures of insecure attachment rather than to their eating disorder or general psychopathology. Therapeutic approaches to correcting insecure attachment may be considered as a possible approach to treating AN patients with OC. The study supports a new psychopathological perspective for understanding the meaning of OC symptoms in AN.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III: Evidence obtained from cohort or case-control analytic studies.