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Journal ArticleDOI

A network analysis of borderline personality disorder symptoms and disordered eating.

TL;DR: The findings provide empirical insight into the nature of the observed co-occurrence between BPD and ED symptoms and serve to improve clinical decision-making regarding psychological interventions for both problem sets.
Abstract: Objective The current study used network analysis to explore associations between specific groupings of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and eating disorder (ED) symptoms, and other transdiagnostic variables including insecure attachment, rejection sensitivity, emotion dysregulation, a theory of mind, and emotion recognition. Method Network analysis was undertaken on self-report data from 753 adults (81.5% women), of whom 109 reported a lifetime ED diagnosis. Results Comorbidity between BPD and ED symptoms was only partially conceptualized through the transdiagnostic variables. The centrality indices from the network analysis indicated that emotion dysregulation and abandonment were the most central elements in the network. Conversely, the theory of mind and emotion recognition had very few connections with the other transdiagnostic variables in the network. Discussion The findings provide empirical insight into the nature of the observed co-occurrence between BPD and ED symptoms and serve to improve clinical decision-making regarding psychological interventions for both problem sets.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: With decreasing symptom severity, CBT resulted in a greater integration and connectivity of the psychopathology network in BED, suggesting an increased patient understanding of relations between binge eating and other symptoms.
Abstract: Introduction Network approaches to psychopathology posit that mental disorders emerge from interrelated symptoms, and thus connectivity among symptoms are assumed to negatively predict the treatment response and decrease with efficacious treatment. Objective This study uniquely sought to elucidate the network structure, its change, and its predictive value in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for binge-eating disorder (BED). Methods In a multicenter randomized trial of face-to-face and Internet-based guided self-help CBT, 178 individuals with full syndrome and subsyndromal BED, eating disorder and general psychopathology, and body mass index (BMI) were subjected to Gaussian Graphical Network and Exploratory Graph Analyses before and after treatment and at 6-month follow-up. Results At pretreatment, 3 network communities of: eating disorder psychopathology; general psychopathology; and restraint and BMI were identified, with the latter community included in the first thereafter. Eating disorder-related impairment and self-esteem were the most central symptoms, while BMI and binge eating had the lowest centrality. Network connectivity significantly increased from pre- to posttreatment, with the greatest increases in strength centrality found in binge eating and shape concern, but it did not predict remission from binge eating. Conclusions With decreasing symptom severity, CBT resulted in a greater integration and connectivity of the psychopathology network in BED, suggesting an increased patient understanding of relations between binge eating and other symptoms. Network connectivity was not a negative prognostic indicator of treatment outcome. These results indicate a need for further research on the predictive value of network variables in the explanation of therapeutic change for patients with BED.

20 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic review and meta-analysis were carried out to look at abnormal emotion regulation differences between anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (BN), two common eating disorder pathologies with different eating patterns.

15 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper performed nine separate meta-analyses (one for each BPD symptom) to compare levels of symptoms in patients with eating disorders versus healthy controls, and found that affective instability was the most elevated symptom in individuals with versus without eating disorders.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE Eating disorders and borderline personality disorder have high rates of comorbidity. However, the extent to which individual BPD symptoms are elevated in patients with EDs is largely unknown. Meta-analyses examined: (1) which of the nine BPD symptoms are especially elevated in individuals with versus without EDs, (2) whether particular ED subtypes have elevated levels of certain BPD symptoms, and (3) which BPD symptoms remain unstudied/understudied in relation to EDs. METHODS We performed nine separate meta-analyses (one for each BPD symptom) to compare levels of symptoms in patients with EDs versus healthy controls. A total of 122 studies (range = 4-34 studies across symptoms) were included. RESULTS Affective instability was the BPD symptom most elevated, while anger was the BPD symptom least elevated, in patients with EDs compared to controls. When comparing effect sizes across ED subtypes, anorexia nervosa binge-eating/purging subtype had the largest effect sizes for the greatest number of BPD symptoms, while effect sizes for AN restrictive subtype were not significantly larger than those of other EDs for any BPD symptom. The least studied BPD symptoms were identity disturbance and interpersonal difficulties. DISCUSSION These meta-analyses suggest that certain symptoms of BPD play a more prominent role in the comorbidity between BPD and EDs than others. Targeting affective instability when treating cases of comorbid ED and BPD may be especially likely to ameliorate the negative outcomes related to this comorbidity. Future research should further investigate identity disturbance and interpersonal difficulties in the context of EDs. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE Having an eating disorder and borderline personality disorder is a common comorbidity associated with a severe clinical presentation. BPD is characterized by nine distinct symptoms. This research examined levels of individual BPD symptoms in patients with versus without EDs. Findings can guide researchers and clinicians towards studying and treating symptoms that may be most relevant for BPD-ED comorbidity and in turn, improve outcomes for these patients.

6 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
11 Mar 2021
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated whether patients with anorexia nervosa and comorbid Borderline personality disorder (AN+BPD) differ in characteristics related to admission to, discharge from, and course of specialized inpatient eating disorder treatment.
Abstract: Data on patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and comorbid Borderline personality disorder (AN+BPD) are scarce. Therefore, we investigated (1) whether patients with AN and AN+BPD differ in characteristics related to admission to, discharge from, and course of specialized inpatient eating disorder treatment and (2) how comorbid BPD affects treatment outcome. One-thousand one-hundred and sixty inpatients with AN (97.2% female, 5.9% with comorbid BPD; mean age = 26.15, SD = 9.41) were administered the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), the Eating Disorder Inventory 2 (EDI-2), and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) at admission and discharge. Data were extracted by a retrospective chart review of naturalistic treatment data. Age, sex, weekly weight gain, length of stay, and discharge characteristics were compared with independent t-tests and χ2-tests. Changes in outcome variables, including body mass index (BMI), were analyzed with longitudinal multilevel mixed-effects models. No differences in age or sex were found between patients with AN and AN+BPD, but groups differed in previous inpatient treatments, BMI at admission, and frequency of at least one additional comorbidity with higher values for AN+BPD. Higher levels of disorder-specific and general psychopathology at admission were found for AN+BPD. Patients with AN showed statistically significant improvement in all examined variables, patients with AN+BPD improved in all variables except EDI-2 body dissatisfaction. Strongest improvements in patients with AN+BPD occurred in BMI (Cohen’s d = 1.08), EDI-2 total score (Cohen’s d = 0.99), EDI-2 interpersonal distrust (d = 0.84). Significant Group x Time Interactions were observed for BSI GSI, GAF, and EDI-2 body dissatisfaction, indicating a reduced benefit from inpatient treatment in AN+BPD. At discharge, no differences were found in weekly weight gain, BMI, length of stay, or discharge characteristics (e.g., ability to work, reason for discharge), however, patients with AN+BPD were more frequently treated with medication. Patients with AN+BPD differ from patients with AN in that they show higher general and specific eating disorder psychopathology and only partially improve under specialized inpatient treatment. In particular, aspects of emotion regulation and core AN symptoms like body dissatisfaction and perfectionism need to be even more targeted in comorbid patients.

5 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
16 Mar 2022-PLOS ONE
TL;DR: In this paper , a large sample of network-based studies that exploit psychometric data related to eating disorders (EDs) trying to highlight important aspects such as core symptoms, influences of external factors, comorbidities, and changes in network structure and connectivity across both time and subpopulations.
Abstract: Network science represents a powerful and increasingly promising method for studying complex real-world problems. In the last decade, it has been applied to psychometric data in the attempt to explain psychopathologies as complex systems of causally interconnected symptoms. With this work, we aimed to review a large sample of network-based studies that exploit psychometric data related to eating disorders (EDs) trying to highlight important aspects such as core symptoms, influences of external factors, comorbidities, and changes in network structure and connectivity across both time and subpopulations. A particular focus is here given to the potentialities and limitations of the available methodologies used in the field. At the same time, we also give a review of the statistical software packages currently used to carry out each phase of the network estimation and analysis workflow. Although many theoretical results, especially those concerning the ED core symptoms, have already been confirmed by multiple studies, their supporting function in clinical treatment still needs to be thoroughly assessed.

3 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An issue concerning the criteria for tic disorders is highlighted, and how this might affect classification of dyskinesias in psychotic spectrum disorders.
Abstract: Given the recent attention to movement abnormalities in psychosis spectrum disorders (e.g., prodromal/high-risk syndromes, schizophrenia) (Mittal et al., 2008; Pappa and Dazzan, 2009), and an ongoing discussion pertaining to revisions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM) for the upcoming 5th edition, we would like to take this opportunity to highlight an issue concerning the criteria for tic disorders, and how this might affect classification of dyskinesias in psychotic spectrum disorders. Rapid, non-rhythmic, abnormal movements can appear in psychosis spectrum disorders, as well as in a host of commonly co-occurring conditions, including Tourette’s Syndrome and Transient Tic Disorder (Kerbeshian et al., 2009). Confusion can arise when it becomes necessary to determine whether an observed movement (e.g., a sudden head jerk) represents a spontaneous dyskinesia (i.e., spontaneous transient chorea, athetosis, dystonia, ballismus involving muscle groups of the arms, legs, trunk, face, and/or neck) or a tic (i.e., stereotypic or patterned movements defined by the relationship to voluntary movement, acute and chronic time course, and sensory urges). Indeed, dyskinetic movements such as dystonia (i.e., sustained muscle contractions, usually producing twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures or positions) closely resemble tics in a patterned appearance, and may only be visually discernable by attending to timing differences (Gilbert, 2006). When turning to the current DSM-IV TR for clarification, the description reads: “Tic Disorders must be distinguished from other types of abnormal movements that may accompany general medical conditions (e.g., Huntington’s disease, stroke, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, Wilson’s disease, Sydenham’s chorea, multiple sclerosis, postviral encephalitis, head injury) and from abnormal movements that are due to the direct effects of a substance (e.g., a neuroleptic medication)”. However, as it is written, it is unclear if psychosis falls under one such exclusionary medical disorder. The “direct effects of a substance” criteria, referencing neuroleptic medications, further contributes to the uncertainty around this issue. As a result, ruling-out or differentiating tics in psychosis spectrum disorders is at best, a murky endeavor. Historically, the advent of antipsychotic medication in the 1950s has contributed to the confusion about movement signs in psychiatric populations. Because neuroleptic medications produce characteristic movement disorder in some patients (i.e. extrapyramidal side effects), drug-induced movement disturbances have been the focus of research attention in psychotic disorders. However, accumulating data have documented that spontaneous dyskinesias, including choreoathetodic movements, can occur in medication naive adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (Pappa and Dazzan, 2009), as well as healthy first-degree relatives of chronically ill schizophrenia patients (McCreadie et al., 2003). Taken together, this suggests that movement abnormalities may reflect pathogenic processes underlying some psychotic disorders (Mittal et al., 2008; Pappa and Dazzan, 2009). More specifically, because spontaneous hyperkinetic movements are believed to reflect abnormal striatal dopamine activity (DeLong and Wichmann, 2007), and dysfunction in this same circuit is also proposed to contribute to psychosis, it is possible that spontaneous dyskinesias serve as an outward manifestation of circuit dysfunction underlying some schizophrenia-spectrum symptoms (Walker, 1994). Further, because these movements precede the clinical onset of psychotic symptoms, sometimes occurring in early childhood (Walker, 1994), and may steadily increase during adolescence among populations at high-risk for schizophrenia (Mittal et al., 2008), observable dyskinesias could reflect a susceptibility that later interacts with environmental and neurodevelopmental factors, in the genesis of psychosis. In adolescents who meet criteria for a prodromal syndrome (i.e., the period preceding formal onset of psychotic disorders characterized by subtle attenuated positive symptoms coupled with a decline in functioning), there is sometimes a history of childhood conditions which are also characterized by suppressible tics or tic like movements (Niendam et al., 2009). On the other hand, differentiating between tics and dyskinesias has also complicated research on childhood disorders such as Tourette syndrome (Kompoliti and Goetz, 1998; Gilbert, 2006). We propose consideration of more explicit and operationalized criteria for differentiating tics and dyskinesias, based on empirically derived understanding of neural mechanisms. Further, revisions of the DSM should allow for the possibility that movement abnormalities might reflect neuropathologic processes underlying the etiology of psychosis for a subgroup of patients. Psychotic disorders might also be included among the medical disorders that are considered a rule-out for tics. Related to this, the reliability of movement assessment needs to be improved, and this may require more training for mental health professionals in movement symptoms. Although standardized assessment of movement and neurological abnormalities is common in research settings, it has been proposed that an examination of neuromotor signs should figure in the assessment of any patient, and be as much a part of the patient assessment as the mental state examination (Picchioni and Dazzan, 2009). To this end it is important for researchers and clinicians to be aware of differentiating characteristics for these two classes of abnormal movement. For example, tics tend to be more complex than myoclonic twitches, and less flowing than choreoathetodic movements (Kompoliti and Goetz, 1998). Patients with tics often describe a sensory premonition or urge to perform a tic, and the ability to postpone tics at the cost of rising inner tension (Gilbert, 2006). For example, one study showed that patients with tic disorders could accurately distinguish tics from other movement abnormalities based on the subjective experience of some voluntary control of tics (Lang, 1991). Another differentiating factor derives from the relationship of the movement in question to other voluntary movements. Tics in one body area rarely occur during purposeful and voluntary movements in that same body area whereas dyskinesia are often exacerbated by voluntary movement (Gilbert, 2006). Finally, it is noteworthy that tics wax and wane in frequency and intensity and migrate in location over time, often becoming more complex and peaking between the ages of 9 and 14 years (Gilbert, 2006). In the case of dyskinesias among youth at-risk for psychosis, there is evidence that the movements tend to increase in severity and frequency as the individual approaches the mean age of conversion to schizophrenia spectrum disorders (Mittal et al., 2008). As revisions to the DSM are currently underway in preparation for the new edition (DSM V), we encourage greater attention to the important, though often subtle, distinctions among subtypes of movement abnormalities and their association with psychiatric syndromes.

67,017 citations

Book
27 May 1998
TL;DR: The book aims to provide the skills necessary to begin to use SEM in research and to interpret and critique the use of method by others.
Abstract: Designed for students and researchers without an extensive quantitative background, this book offers an informative guide to the application, interpretation and pitfalls of structural equation modelling (SEM) in the social sciences. The book covers introductory techniques including path analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, and provides an overview of more advanced methods such as the evaluation of non-linear effects, the analysis of means in convariance structure models, and latent growth models for longitudinal data. Providing examples from various disciplines to illustrate all aspects of SEM, the book offers clear instructions on the preparation and screening of data, common mistakes to avoid and widely used software programs (Amos, EQS and LISREL). The book aims to provide the skills necessary to begin to use SEM in research and to interpret and critique the use of method by others.

42,102 citations


"A network analysis of borderline pe..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Skew and Kurtosis values were within acceptable limits (Kline, 2011), and thus the transformation of variables or correlation matrix was not undertaken before analyses reported below....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, three distinct intuitive notions of centrality are uncovered and existing measures are refined to embody these conceptions, and the implications of these measures for the experimental study of small groups are examined.

14,757 citations


"A network analysis of borderline pe..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...The centrality of nodes was quantified based on three commonly reported metrics: betweenness (if a node controls the flow between others), closeness (how quickly a node may reach others), and strength (a node's number of edges) (Freeman, 1978)....

    [...]