Borderline personality disorder and bulimia nervosa: An investigation of mood and eating
Abstract
A number of previous studies have indicated that borderline personality disorder (BPD) is common among individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN). Some investigators have suggested that the presence of BPD is a risk factor for developing BN. The present study examined the hypothesis that borderlines experience mood improvement through eating, a pattern that may promote binge eating during periods of emotional distress, and thereby account for the high risk of developing BN among borderlines. A naturalistic investigation of affect associated with eating episodes was conducted with 71 subjects selected on the basis of presence or absence of symptoms of BPD and BN. It was predicted that subjects reporting symptoms of BPD would experience greater negative affect prior to eating and greater improvement in negative affect following eating in comparison with nonborderlines. Four groups of subjects were included in the study, consisting of female university students reporting symptoms of: (1) neither BPD or BN, (2) BPD but not BN, (3) BN but not BPD, and (4) both BPD and BN. Subjects recorded moods experienced in conjunction with eating episodes for 10 days. Results indicated that bulimia-prone subjects experienced higher negative affect and lower global affect associated with eating in comparison with nonbulimics, and that post-eating affect in particular tended to be worse for bulimia-prone subjects compared to nonbulimics. Contrary to predicted results, BPD was not associated with significantly greater pre-eating negative affect or significantly greater improvement in mood over the course of eating. These results call into question the hypothesis that the symptoms of bulimia are maintained in borderlines because they help alleviate negative moods associated with BPD. The results also emphasize concerns about the validity of retrospective (rather than naturalistic) measurement of mood in studies of eating-related affect, because the findings reported here stand in clear opposition to previous research in which retrospective methods were used to sample eating-related moods.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Conger, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Psychotherapy
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