Alexithymia and depression in eating disorders

We compared alexithymia and depression ratings for non-hospitalized women m eeting DSM-IV criteria for anorexia nervosa (n = 32) and bulimia nervosa (n = 32) to ratings for healthy women (n = 74). Alexithymia was evaluated by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and depression by the Hospital Anxie ty and Depression Scale (HAD). TAS and HAD scores were significantly higher in anorexic compared to bulimic patients, although these two scales were s ignificantly and positively correlated (r = 0.53, P = 0.001). After taking depression into account as a confounding variable, rates of alexithymia did not vary according to the type of eating disorder (anorexia or bulimia). ( C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.