PROGNOSTIC IMPLICATIONS OF STABLE VERSUS TRANSIENT BORDERLINE FEATURES IN BULIMIC PATIENTS

Background: This study examined the association between ''borderline f eatures'' and treatment response in bulimic patients. Method: Treatmen t response was assessed in 69 bulimic patients over 6 months of treatm ent (and 1-year response in 44 of the patients). Patients were classif ied as a function of whether ''borderline features'' were (1) ''stably '' present (at pretreatment and after 3 months), (2) ''transiently'' p resent (at pretreatment only), or (3) ''absent'' (at both time points) . Results: The stably borderline profile coincided systematically with Axis II comorbidity (not with mood disorders) and was generally predi ctive of poorer 6- and 12-month response of eating and comorbid sympto ms. Hierarchical regressions showed predictive effects to have a parti al independence from effects caused by concurrent eating symptoms and depression. Conclusion: Results highlight the importance, with respect to prognosis in bulimia nervosa, of establishing the temporal stabili ty of features that imply character disturbance.