RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To describe sexual functioning in women with eating disorders. METHOD: We assessed physical intimacy, libido, sexual anxiety, partner status, and sexual relationships in 242 women from the International Price Foundation Genetic Studies relative to normative data. RESULTS: Intercourse (55.3%), having a partner (52.7%), decreased sexual desire (66.9%), and increased sexual anxiety (59.2%) were common. Women with restricting and purging anorexia nervosa had a higher prevalence of loss of libido than women with bulimia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified (75%, 74.6%, 39%, and 45.4%, respectively). Absence of sexual relationships was associated with lower minimum lifetime body mass index (BMI) and earlier age of onset; loss of libido with lower lifetime BMI, higher interoceptive awareness and trait anxiety; and sexual anxiety with lower lifetime BMI, higher harm avoidance and ineffectiveness. Sexual dysfunction in eating disorders was higher than in the normative sample. DISCUSSION: Sexual dysfunction is common across eating disorders subtypes. Low BMI is associated with loss of libido, sexual anxiety, and avoidance of sexual relationships.
Assuntos
Anorexia Nervosa/epidemiologia , Anorexia Nervosa/psicologia , Bulimia Nervosa/epidemiologia , Bulimia Nervosa/psicologia , Libido , Comportamento Sexual , Adulto , Ansiedade/etiologia , Índice de Massa Corporal , Comorbidade , Manual Diagnóstico e Estatístico de Transtornos Mentais , Transtornos da Alimentação e da Ingestão de Alimentos/epidemiologia , Transtornos da Alimentação e da Ingestão de Alimentos/psicologia , Feminino , Humanos , PrevalênciaRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Childhood anxiety often precedes the onset of anorexia nervosa (AN) and may mark a liability to the emergence of an eating disorder for some women. This study investigates the prevalence of overanxious disorder (OAD) among women with AN and explores how OAD impacts AN symptoms and personality traits. METHOD: Participants were 637 women with AN who completed an eating disorders history, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, and assessments for childhood anxiety, eating disorder attitudes, and associated personality traits. RESULTS: Of 249 women (39.1%) reporting a history of OAD, 235 (94.4%) met criteria for OAD before meeting criteria for AN. In comparison to those without OAD, women with AN and OAD self-reported more extreme personality traits and attitudes and they engaged in more compensatory behaviors. CONCLUSION: Among individuals with AN, those entering AN on a pathway via OAD present with more severe eating disorder pathology.
