Psychological and behavioral characteristics of normal-weight bulimics and normal-weight controls.

This study compares psychological traits, physical traits, behavior, demographic data, incidence of family pathology, incidence of life stress, and scores on eating disorder scales in a sample of normal-weight female bulimics with a sample of normal-weight female controls. The groups, matched for age, socioeconomic status, and I.Q. were found to have comparable physical traits, family demographics, incidence of family pathology, and incidence of life stress. However, bulimics demonstrated significantly higher levels of psychological pathology and impulsive behavior. There were significantly more suicide attempts, psychiatric hospitalizations, episodes of stealing, use of drugs, and menstrual disturbances among the bulimics than the controls. The bulimics consistently rated themselves sicker than the controls on all psychometric scales. Most notable were the depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and interpersonal sensitivity factors on the Symptom Checklist 90, and the internal control score on the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale. The discussion includes a brief description of weight set-point theory and its role in the maintenance of bulimia.