Associations between dimensions of anorexia nervosa and obsessive–compulsive disorder: An examination of personality and psychological factors in patients with anorexia nervosa

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa (AN) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are highly comorbid. However, the factors that account for this comorbidity are poorly understood. We examined the core dimensions of AN and OCD and psychological and personality factors shared by both disorders. In path analyses (N=732 women with either current AN or recovered from AN), we examined which factors were uniquely and independently associated with the core dimensions of AN and OCD. We also examined recovery from AN as a moderator. When individuals with AN reported greater concern over mistakes, they endorsed more severity in both AN and OCD core dimensions. These unique associations existed above and beyond all other transdiagnostic personality and psychological factors and regardless of AN recovery status. Concern over mistakes partially accounts for severity in the core dimensions of both AN and OCD. Concern over mistakes may represent an important target in the aetiology of AN and OCD.