Comorbid psychopathology in binge eating disorder: Relation to eating disorder severity at baseline and following treatment

Individuals with binge eating disorder (BED) have high rates of comorbid ps ychopathology, yet little is known about the relation of comorbidity to eat ing disorder features or response to treatment. These issues were examined among 162 BED patients participating in a psychotherapy trial. Axis I psych opathology was not significantly related to baseline eating disorder severi ty, as measured by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID-I and SCID-II) and the Eating Disorder Examination. However, presence of Axis II psychopathology was significantly related to more severe binge eating a nd eating disorder psychopathology at baseline. Although overall presence o f Axis II psychopathology did not predict treatment outcome, presence of Cl uster B personality disorders predicted significantly higher levers of bing e eating at 1 year following treatment. Results suggest the need to conside r Cluster B disorders when designing treatments for BED.