Background: Dropout (DO) is common in the treatment of eating disorders (EDs), but the reasons for this phenomenon remain unclear. This study is an extensive review of the literature regarding DO predictors in EDs.

Objective: To determine the levels of interoceptive awareness (IA), which measures the ability of an individual to discriminate between sensations and feelings, and between the sensations of hunger and satiety, in eating disorder patients and to identify the clinical, psychopathological and personal variables correlated with IA. Sampling andMethods: Sixty-one restrictor anorectics, 61 binge-purging anorectics, 104 purging bulimics, 49 obese subjects with binge eating disorder (BED) and 47 obese subjects without BED were compared. They were assessed with the Eating Disorder Inventory-2, the Temperament and Character Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory, and their clinical and sociodemographic features were recorded. Results: In all patients, the levels of IA were higher than the ‘normal’ ones; in bulimia nervosa, they were higher than in anorexia nervosa and obesity. Similar personal features and eating attitudes are shared by patients with bulimia nervosa and BED. In the total sample, the following variables independently correlate with IA: the Beck Depression Inventory, self- directedness and persistence. Conclusions: The importance of an altered IA in eating disorders is supported. Both depression and a perfectionist and poorly self-directive personality can lead to greater difficulties in discriminating hunger and satiety.

No abstract

This evidence suggested that in the AN-R subjects the disturbances of body image might be linked to the alterations of abstraction and critical abilities and with an obsessive frontal functioning.

No abstract

The 'functional' infertile subjects of this sample showed particular psychopathological and psychological features, independent from the stress reaction following the identification of the cause of infertility.

No abstract

Background: Dropout from psychotherapy is an important issue that has received little systematic attention. This study investigated the phenomenon of dropout from brief psychotherapy for anorexia nervosa (AN). Methods: 99 outpatients suffering from AN of the restrictor type (n = 53) or binge/purging type (n = 46) were evaluated. Their clinical and personal characteristics were recorded, and body mass index was calculated for participants. They were administered the Eating Disorder Inventory-II (EDI-II), the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Results: Significant differences in some baseline psychopathologic (EDI-II, STAXI) and personality (TCI) variables emerged from the comparison between dropouts and completers. Patients who dropped out of the treatment showed higher levels of anger temperament, anger expression-in and expression-out and lower scores for the dimensions of character (low self-directedness and low cooperativeness). No differences were found between the two groups regarding sociodemographic and clinical variables. Conclusions: Dropout from brief psychotherapy seems to be related to either psychopathologic or personality aspects, such as the tendency to repress anger, which is encountered also in psychosomatic disorders, and the presence of more compromised dimensions of character, typical of subjects with personality disorders. This study of dropout from brief psychotherapy in AN provided interesting results that will need further confirmation. Possible implications for treatment are addressed.