Personality as a Vulnerability Factor in Eating Disorders

Abstract

We performed a study to distinguish the trigger of and the factors maintaining bulimia nerve sa (BN). The subjects were BN patients, normal women without diet experiences, and normal women with diet experiences. We used the Temperament and Character Inventory scales (TCI) as the instrument. As a result, a high Novelty Seeking score (NS) is identified as the main characteristic of BN, and a high Harm Avoidance score (HA) is assumed to contribute to maintaining bulimic symptoms. As the sociocultural background for eating disorders (ED), there may be pressure on women to be thin to be attractive. Also, ED patients have often been pointed out as having problems with interpersonal relationships. We assume that under sociocultural pressure those women having disordered interpersonal relationships with certain contributing personality factors may develop a diet and ED including BN. Our result using TCI may show that women with high NS go on a diet and women whose HA is also high develop BN in our modern culture.