Several research studies have investigated Personality Disorder (PD) comorbidity in adult with Eating Disorders (ED), which showed an association between the two types of disorder.

The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between ED and PD in a sample of adolescents between 14 to 18 years of age.

Sixty-seven adolescents with ED treated in an outpatients setting [23 Anorexia Nervosa (AN), 17 Bulimia Nervosa (BN) and 27 Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS)] were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders (SCID-II), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT).

Overall, 13 (19.4%) of ED patients had one or more PD. Cluster C PDs were the most common specific PDs. No significant difference was found between AN and BN based on the general presence of PDs. EDNOS patients had a lower prevalence of PDs compared to AN and BN patients. ED patients with a PD had an higher BDI rates compared to ED patients without PDs. No significant difference was observed in EAT rates between ED patients with and without PDs.

Cluster C PDs were the most frequent PDs found in ED adolescent patients. The prevalence of PDs is similar in AN and BN patients, whilst EDNOS patients have a lower prevalence of PDs compared to AN and BN patients. ED adolescent patients with current PD comorbidity show higher depression scores.