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Objectives: The study aimed to examine whether dissociation and attitudes towards change were associated with the psychopathology in patients with eating disorders (EDs) at 1-year follow-up., Method: The study included 110 females with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (48 and 62 respectively). At the beginning of the study and 1 year later, they were assessed by means of the following questionnaires: Dissociative Experiences Scale, Attitudes Towards Change (ACTA), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Eating Attitude Test, Bulimic Investigatory Test Edinburgh and Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ)., Results: No statistically significant differences were found between both diagnostic groups regarding dissociation scores. The ACTA at baseline, specifically for patients in the contemplation stage, mediate the effect of dissociation on the psychopathological outcome., Discussion: These findings suggest that dissociation might be a transdiagnostic feature related to the EDs outcome. The psychotherapeutic framework must take it into account, particularly in patients in the contemplation stage., (© 2020 Eating Disorders Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: Clinical research on cortisol response to stress in patients with eating disorders has provided controversial and even contradictory results. As this might be the consequence of the inclusion in the studies of heterogeneous clinical populations, 3 highly selected samples were studied., Methods: Dexamethasone suppression test was performed on 15 restricting anorexia nervosa patients without history of bulimia nervosa (BN), 17 BN patients with normal weight and no history of anorexia nervosa, and 22 healthy controls. Three days later, the Trier Social Stress Test was applied, and 8 saliva samples were collected along the trial for cortisol assessment., Results: When the patients were considered as a single group, a slightly blunted cortisol response to stress was observed, but when the 3 groups were considered separately, the blunted response was observed only in the BN patients., Discussion: The results support the association between blunted cortisol response and bulimic features., (Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.)

The study was aimed at analysing the reciprocal relationships of several clinical and neurobiological items in order to predict alcohol misuse in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN). Seventy BN patients and 70 healthy controls were assessed for depression, impulsivity, borderline personality traits and self-defeating behaviours using specific scales; serum cortisol and 24-hour urinary excretion of serotonin and 5-hydroxiindolacetic acid were also assessed. The study confirmed the implications of these clinical factors for alcohol misuse in BN patients, but the results suggested that depressive symptoms and hypercortisolism could lie behind these relationships., (Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.)

Objective: This study examined dropout-related factors at the Outpatient Eating Disorders Treatment Programme., Method: One hundred ninety-six eating disorders patients following DSM-IV diagnostic criteria that consecutively commenced treatment were recruited and followed up for a 2-year period. A total of 151 patients completed the whole assessment with a set of questionnaires evaluating eating and general psychopathology. The Attitudes towards Change in Eating Disorders questionnaire was used, and personality was evaluated using the Temperament and Character Inventory. During the follow-up period, patients were re-assessed. Two years later, 102 patients continued on treatment., Results: Scores on Precontemplation at the beginning were predictors for dropout at 2-year follow-up. Character variables, as Responsibility, Integrity and Self-acceptance were protective factors to be at Precontemplation stage., Discussion: The clinician's challenge is to help eating disorders patients to develop an unyielding sense of responsibility and self-acceptance, aimed to integrate the therapeutic choice into their own intrapersonal frame of goals., (Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.)