Temperamental differences between adolescents and young adults with or without an eating disorder

There is an increasing interest into the role of temperament, and more specifically the traits Sensitivity to Punishment (SP) and Sensitivity to Reward (SR), in the occurrence of eating disorder (ED) symptoms. However, the results on this topic are inconsistent, different instruments are used to measure SP and SR and there is a lack of research on adolescents and young adults, although they form a group at risk to develop an ED. Therefore, the present objective was to study personality profiles co-occurring with specific EDs in adolescents and young adults.

The present study examined the levels of SP and SR for different ED-diagnoses, namely Anorexia Nervosa of the Restricting type (AN-R; n=41), Anorexia Nervosa of the Binge/Purge type (AN-B/P; n=20) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN; n=30), and compared these with a Healthy Control group (HC; n=292). SP and SR were measured by three different temperament questionnaires in order to rule out instrument-specific findings. Only female participants between the age of 14 and 25 years were included.

SP was transdiagnostically increased compared to HCs, whereas SR was lower in AN-R patients compared to BN patients. These results were independent of the questionnaire being used.

Further research is necessary to explain how these traits may influence specific ED-symptoms.