Researchers discover links between personality traits and the onset of eating disorders

A new study reveals further insight into the links between personality traits and the onset of eating disorder symptoms.

Eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, are serious and potentially life-threatening mental health conditions that affect around 1.25 million people in Britain. Characterized by intense fears around food, weight and body shape, these disorders can cause a significant amount of psychological distress and often co-occur with other conditions such as anxiety and addiction. Anorexia alone has the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders, but little is known about its cause, meaning treatment options are limited and not always effective.

A new study from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London reveals further insight into the links between personality traits and the onset of eating disorder symptoms. These findings could help researchers design more personalized treatments.

The study, published in the Journal of Affective Disordersuses a comprehensive approach to look at how combinations of different personality traits are associated with the co-development and co-occurrence of eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and suicide risk.

The researchers identified personality profiles that could indicate both future risk and current diagnoses of eating disorders and various co-occurring conditions. They found that neuroticism (an individual’s tendency to experience negative emotions) and impulsivity are two important personality traits that may serve as early risk factors for future anxiety and dieting behaviors.

According to the findings, interventions and therapies that target personality traits such as neuroticism could be key to preventing the development of eating disorders among those at risk.

“Imagine experiences of negative emotions as if you were driving on a bumpy road. People high in neuroticism will encounter these bumps more often and feel them more intensely. They often show an increased sensitivity to stressors and experience them as more threatening or challenging. This can lead to avoidance or maladaptive coping strategies. Therefore, neuroticism has a strong link to mental health,” said Dr. Zuo Zhang, first author of the study and postdoctoral researcher at the Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Center at King’s IoPPN.

The team analyzed data from three samples with overlapping measures of psychopathology (i.e. symptoms) and personality: a longitudinal sample of adolescents with repeated observations over ~10 years (IMAGEN), and clinical samples of young adults with eating disorders (ESTRA), major depression, or alcohol use disorder (STRATIFY).

Neuroticism was found to be a diagnostic marker for both anorexia and bulimia, while impulsivity was specifically linked to bulimia. In addition, the findings suggest that hopelessness is an important diagnostic marker of depression, anxiety, and suicide risk co-occurring with eating disorders, while extraversion was found to have potential protective factors associated with lower depressive risks in patients with bulimia.

The study could play a key role in informing the design of new treatments for eating disorders that target specific personality traits.

Dr. Zhang adds: “[Our findings] suggest that interventions targeting hopelessness and introversion may improve clinical outcomes. For people who feel hopeless, therapies can focus on challenging negative beliefs and thoughts, learning coping skills to deal with stress and adversity, and setting achievable goals to promote a sense of hope and agency . For more introverted people, therapies may include strategies to improve social skills, increase assertiveness, and build confidence in social interactions.”

“Such easily applicable predictive and diagnostic markers could play a key role in designing new, personalized treatments for eating disorders that target specific personality traits,” says Professor Sylvane Desrivières, senior author of the study and professor of biological psychiatry at the Social University . Center for Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry at King’s IoPPN.

By understanding the mechanisms and risk factors of eating disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions, we can move closer to developing more personalized intervention and prevention strategies, improving outcomes for both individuals at risk and those already living with these devastating diseases .