Regular Article

Does avoidant personality disorder impact on the outcome of treatment for bulimia nervosa?

  1. Sarah L. Rowe MEd1,*,
  2. Jennifer Jordan PhD1,
  3. Virginia V. W. McIntosh PhD1,
  4. Frances A. Carter PhD1,
  5. Chris Frampton PhD1,
  6. Cynthia M. Bulik PhD2,3,
  7. Peter R. Joyce MD, PhD, DSc, FRANZCP, FRSNZ1

Article first published online: 17 JUN 2009

DOI: 10.1002/eat.20716

Issue

International Journal of Eating Disorders

International Journal of Eating Disorders

Volume 43, Issue 5, pages 420–427, July 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Rowe, S. L., Jordan, J., McIntosh, V. V. W., Carter, F. A., Frampton, C., Bulik, C. M. and Joyce, P. R. (2010), Does avoidant personality disorder impact on the outcome of treatment for bulimia nervosa?. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 43: 420–427. doi: 10.1002/eat.20716

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand

  2. 2

    Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina

  3. 3

    Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina

*Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, PO Box 4345, Christchurch, New Zealand

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 1 JUN 2010
  2. Article first published online: 17 JUN 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 30 APR 2009

Funded by

  • Health Research Council of New Zealand
  • University of Otago, Christchurch

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

Get PDF (104K)

Keywords:

  • bulimia nervosa;
  • avoidant personality disorder;
  • outcome;
  • long-term follow-up;
  • comorbidity

Abstract

Objective:

To examine the impact of avoidant personality disorder (AVPD) on bulimia nervosa (BN) treatment outcome over 3 years.

Method:

Women with BN were participating in a randomized treatment trial. The sample was split into: AVPD (n = 37), other PD (n = 37), and no PD (n = 60). Eating disorder symptomatology, depressive symptoms and psychosocial functioning were examined at pretreatment and follow-up. Multiple regression was conducted to control for high axis I comorbidity.

Results:

There were no significant differences across the groups at pretreatment or follow-up on eating disorder symptoms. AVPD had worse depressive symptoms and psychosocial functioning at pretreatment which continued 3 years post-treatment. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the presence of any lifetime mood disorder contributed to these significant results.

Discussion:

These findings suggest AVPD is not a significant predictor of BN outcome. However, AVPD is associated with poorer psychiatric symptoms although much of this variance appears to be attributable to the lifetime presence of any mood disorder. © 2009 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2010

Get PDF (104K)