Bulimia and object relations: MMPI and Rorschach variables

Rorschach and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) responses from persons vomiting to manage body weight and fat phobia were compared to those from a matched control group to determine the levels of personality structure. These responses were also contrasted with those of representative groups from normal and personality disordered populations. Findings were that the bulimic group's test protocols differed significantly from those of the control group, displaying evidence of serious cognitive slippage and dramatic, emotional and erratic personality structures arrested at the differentiation subphase of ego development. The clinical importance of timely developmental diagnosis and interventions designed to promote object constancy was discussed in light of these findings.