Illness perception in patients with eating disorders: clinical, personality, and food addiction correlates

• Published in: Eating and weight disorders Vol. 26; no. 7; pp. 2287 - 2300
• Main Authors: Agüera, Zaida, Riesco, Nadine, Valenciano-Mendoza, Eduardo, Granero, Roser, Sánchez, Isabel, Andreu, Alba, Jiménez-Murcia, Susana, Fernández-Aranda, Fernando
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.10.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anorexia Nervosa; Binge-Eating Disorder; Bulimia Nervosa; Eating disorders; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Food Addiction; Food and Addiction; Humans; Illnesses; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Article; Perception; Personality; Psychiatry; Insight; Personality; Illness perception; Food addiction; Eating disorders
• ISSN: 1590-1262; 1124-4909; 1590-1262
• DOI: 10.1007/s40519-020-01083-3

Purpose Although the role of illness perception in the clinical course of many physical diseases and certain mental disorders has been well described, little is known about illness perception in eating disorders (ED) so far. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to extend our understanding of illness perception in different ED diagnostic types and to explore its association between clinical, psychopathological, motivational, personality, and food addiction (FA) features. Methods The sample consisted of 104 patients with ED [(23 anorexia nervosa (AN), 39 bulimia nervosa (BN), 19 binge eating disorder (BED), and 23 other specified feeding and eating disorders (OSFED)]. Illness perception was assessed by means of the revised version of the Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R). Results The results supported the association between illness perception and clinical, psychopathological, and personality factors. Patients with BN and BED showed greater illness perception than the other types. Improved illness perception was positively associated with a longer duration of the disorder and FA. Furthermore, a relevant finding suggests that at least half of the patients with ED did not achieve a good level of illness perception until after having the disorder for 20 years on average. Conclusion Our findings suggest that higher levels of FA and longer duration of the ED are positively and directly associated with increased illness perception. This may explain the low levels of initial motivation in these patients and their high dropout rates in the early stages of treatment. Level of evidence III Case-control analytic study.