Witcher D B, Williamson D A
Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge 70803.
J Subst Abuse. 1992;4(3):255-61. doi: 10.1016/0899-3289(92)90034-u.
Severity of bulimia nervosa upon presentation for treatment may be influenced by duration and age of onset of bulimic behaviors. This hypothesis was investigated in a retrospective study by correlating duration of bulimia and age of onset with sets of variables measuring the primary symptoms and other psychopathology associated with bulimia nervosa. The experimental design was cross-sectional. The sample included 153 women who had been diagnosed with bulimia nervosa. Canonical correlations indicated that younger age of onset and longer duration were associated with more severe bulimic symptoms and increased body image distortion. Anorexic symptoms were reduced over time, however, and weight gain (at a rate of about 0.54 Kg [1.2 lbs] per year) was correlated with duration of bulimic behaviors. Also, older age of onset and longer duration were associated with increasing social introversion. These findings were interpreted as supportive of the hypothesis that younger age of onset and longer duration of bulimic behaviors are associated with more severe bulimia and general psychopathology. Though limited by the retrospective nature of the study, these results substantiate the need for longitudinal investigations of bulimia nervosa.
神经性贪食症患者接受治疗时的严重程度可能受贪食行为的持续时间和发病年龄影响。在一项回顾性研究中，通过将贪食症的持续时间和发病年龄与测量与神经性贪食症相关的主要症状及其他精神病理学的一系列变量进行关联，对这一假设进行了研究。实验设计为横断面研究。样本包括153名被诊断为神经性贪食症的女性。典型相关分析表明，发病年龄越小、持续时间越长，与越严重的贪食症状及更严重的身体意象障碍相关。然而，随着时间推移，厌食症状有所减轻，且体重增加（每年约0.54千克[1.2磅]）与贪食行为的持续时间相关。此外，发病年龄越大、持续时间越长，与社交内向程度增加相关。这些发现被解释为支持以下假设：发病年龄越小、贪食行为持续时间越长，与越严重的贪食症及一般精神病理学相关。尽管该研究具有回顾性的局限性，但这些结果证实了对神经性贪食症进行纵向研究的必要性。
