Prognostic implications of stable versus transient "borderline features" in bulimic patients
Steiger, H.; Stotland, S.; Houle, L.
Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 55(5): 206-214
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0160-6689 PMID: 8071271 Document Number: 428742
Background: This study examined the association between "borderline features" and treatment response in bulimic patients. Method: Treatment response was assessed in 69 bulimic patients over 6 months of treatment (and 1-year response in 44 of the patients). Patients were classified as a function of whether "borderline features" were (1) "stably" present (at pretreatment and after 3 months), (2) "transiently" present (at pretreatment only), or (3) "absent" (at both time points). Results: The stably borderline profile coincided systematically with Axis II comorbidity (not with mood disorders) and was generally predictive of poorer 6- and 12-month response of eating and comorbid symptoms. Hierarchical regressions showed predictive effects to have a partial independence from effects caused by concurrent eating symptoms and depression. Conclusion: Results highlight the importance, with respect to prognosis in bulimia nervosa, of establishing the temporal stability of features that imply character disturbance.