ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Minerva Pediatrica 2020 December;72(6):501-7

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4946.19.05202-2

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

A glance into psychiatric comorbidity in adolescents with anorexia nervosa

Gennaro CATONE ¹ ✉, Simone PISANO ^{2, 3}, Giulia MUZZO ⁴, Giuseppina CORRADO ^{3, 4}, Katia RUSSO ¹, Assunta MAIORANO ³, Filomena SALERNO ⁴, Antonella GRITTI ¹

¹ Department of Educational, Psychological and Communication Sciences, Suor Orsola Benincasa University, Naples, Italy; ² Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, AORN Santobono-Pausilipon, Naples, Italy; ³ Department of Translational Medicine, Federico II University of Naples, Naples, Italy; ⁴ Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, Luigi Vanvitelli University of Campania, Naples, Italy

BACKGROUND: Eating disorders display several psychiatric comorbidities. The aim of this study was to describe these comorbidities in a group of adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa or OSFED (Other Specified Feedind or Eating Disorder). We have evaluated the comorbidity both with a clinical interview (categorical comorbidities) and with a self-report interview (dimensional comorbidities) in order to compare the two profiles.
METHODS: The study was carried out at the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (eating disorder service for developmental age) of the Luigi Vanvitelli University of Campania (ex Second University of Naples). Data were collected retrospectively from chart review, routinely gathered during the clinical assessment.
RESULTS: Seventy-two subjects constituted the sample, 62 (86.1%) were female and 10 (13.9%) male. The most frequent categorical comorbidities were social anxiety disorder (SS: 38; 52.8%), Depression disorder (SS: 30; 41.7%) and generalized anxiety disorder (SS: 14; 19.4%). The mean scores at dimensional questionnaires were 15.5 (SD: 10.7) for the depression (Children Depression Inventory) and 34.8 (SD: 28.3) for social anxiety (Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale).
CONCLUSIONS: Data analysis showed that social anxiety and depression were the most common categorical comorbidities in young patients with eating disorders. However, comparing the data from the clinical interview with those of the self-interviews revealed that patients well recognize social anxiety symptoms, but tend to deny depressive ones.

KEY WORDS: Anorexia; Comorbidity; Depression; Adolescent; Feeding and eating disorders