Personality disorders among subjects recovered from eating disorders

Objective: Personality disorders are common in symptomatic eating disorders subjects. Because personality symptoms could be exaggerated by malnutritio n or Axis I disorders, we studied women who had recovered from eating disor ders for at least I year to see if personality disorder symptoms persisted in the well state. Method: Personality disorders were evaluated in 10 women recovered from anorexia nervosa (AN) 28 women recovered from bulimia nervo sa (BN) and 16 women recovered from AN and BN, using the Structured Clinica l Interview for DSM-III-R personality disorders. Results: Fourteen of 54 su bjects (26%) met the criteria for at least one personality disorder, such a s self-defeating, obsessive-compulsive, or borderline personality disorder. Cluster B personality disorders were closely associated with bulimic subty pes; Conclusions: While a recovery from eating disorders may have an attenu ating influence on the symptoms of personality disorders, such personality disorder diagnoses persist after recovery in some recovered subjects. (C) 2 000 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.