The results indicate that the bulimia-impulsivity link in eating disordered patients is not simply a by-product of the broader association of impulsivity with psychopathology. Therefore, bulimic pathology does not seem to be just a manifestation of general psychological disturbance. Further research is suggested to test these results and potential clinical implications are outlined.

Greater weight loss strongly correlates with improved quality of life, less disturbed eating behavior, and lower psychopathology. These results justify the clinical use of surgical procedures and demonstrate that weight loss has powerful psychological and psychosocial implications.

Insight of patients with schizophrenia seems to be a complex phenomenon that includes elements of a psychological, psychopathological, neurocognitive, and interactional nature. The purpose of this research was to study two of these areas (psychopathology and interpersonal relationships) in order to determine their influence on insight and their interrelation. Eighty-two outpatients fulfilling DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia were studied using the Schedule for the Assessment of Insight (SAI), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and the Social Cognitions and Object Relations Scale (SCORS). Bivariate correlations and multiple regression tests were performed. The positive component of the PANSS and the understanding of social causality (SCORS) appeared as the most significant variables related to level of insight. Positive symptoms were inversely related to insight, whereas understanding of social causality was directly associated with an appropriate awareness of illness. These results support the idea that insight is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon. In this respect, the study of the psychopathological dimension of insight should be accompanied by the consideration of interactional and social factors, because awareness of illness can be considered ultimately as an index of concordance between patients' views of the illness and cultural standards regarding mental disorders.

Surgically treated morbidly obese patients with a psychiatric disorder (PO) have a more destructured eating pattern (with a predominance of binge eating and disinhibition) than NO.

Objective: To analyze the body composition of a group of patients fulfilling DSM-IV criteria for bulimia nervosa (BN), comparing the patients who had a history of DSM-IV anorexia nervosa (AN) with those without such a history to determine (1) whether both groups differed in terms of body composition and (2) whether the differences between groups could be the consequence of the past condition. Methods: The sample consisted of 104 patients, 43 with prior AN (BN-AN group) and 61 without a history of AN (BN-nonAN). The patients were assessed using anthropometric and bioelectrical methods: height and weight, body circumferences, abdominal diameter, skinfold thickness, and body impedance analysis. In a later phase and to test the influence of current low weight on the results, two experimental groups were created: the first group was composed of the patients from the BN-AN group who had a normal body mass index (BMI range in this group, 20.1-23.4 kg/m 2 ; n ¼ 23); the second group consisted of 23 patients from the BN-nonAN group in the same BMI range. In both phases unpaired sample t tests were performed for statistical analysis. Results: More than 40% of the bulimic patients with a history of AN had a BMI less than 20. They had a lower percentage of body fat, lower muscle mass, and higher percentage of extracellular water. Nevertheless, most of these differences disappeared in the second phase of the analysis, when only the patients within a normal weight range were compared. Discussion: According to these results, a significant number of bulimic patients with a history of AN tend to retain some clinical traits of the past condition and could be viewed as remaining in a ''subclinical anorexic status'': they are thinner and seem to have less difficulties in maintaining low weight than patients without a history of AN. Nevertheless, in patients who have reached a normal weight after AN, all these differences disappear. This fact raises some important questions related to the boundaries between AN and BN, the shifting from one to another, or when AN patients really recover. #