Impulsive and compulsive traits in eating disordered patients compared with controls

The question whether bulimia nervosa (BN) patients show more impulsive and less compulsive traits than anorexia nervosa (AN) patients has been linked to the idea of eating disorders belonging to the so-called obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. In this study we have compared both impulsive and compulsive traits in three subgroups of eating disordered patients (total n=56) and a control group of 102 female students. Information about impulsive and obsessive-compulsive traits were gathered by means of standardised self-rating scales. BN and bingeing-purging AN patients reported more impulsive and obsessive traits than restrictive AN patients and controls without eating disorders, although these traits were also present in the latter groups. The data support the hypothesis that obsessive-compulsive and impulsive traits are not mutually exclusive but can be found in groups of individuals with the same diagnosis or even within the same individual.