Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31060534›Full record

Trial reportBMC psychiatry2019

Reduced mentalizing in patients with bulimia nervosa and features of borderline personality disorder: A case-control study.

Sofia Sacchetti, Paul Robinson, Alexandra Bogaardt, Ajay Clare, Catherine Ouellet-Courtois, Patrick Luyten, Anthony Bateman, Peter Fonagy

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC psychiatry, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
4.4field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Sofia SacchettiResearch Department of Clinical, Education and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK.
Paul RobinsonNutrition Science Group, UCL Division of Medicine, University College London, London, UK. p.robinson@ucl.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0001-7113-3028
Alexandra BogaardtBarnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust, London, UK.
Ajay ClareBarnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust, London, UK.
Catherine Ouellet-CourtoisBarnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust, London, UK.
Patrick LuytenResearch Department of Clinical, Education and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK.
Anthony BatemanResearch Department of Clinical, Education and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK.
Peter FonagyResearch Department of Clinical, Education and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK.
Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust · GBUniversity College London · GB

Funding

Department of Health PB-PG-0408-15183
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMentalizing, the mental capacity to understand oneself and others in terms of mental states, has been found to be reduced in some mental disorders such as Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Some studies have suggested that Eating Disorders (EDs) may also be associated with impairments in mentalizing, but studies have not always yielded consistent results. This is the first study to systematically investigate mentalizing impairments in patients with Bulimia Nervosa (BN) compared with controls. In addition, we investigated whether impairments in mentalizing were related to BPD features, rather than BN per se, given the high comorbidity between BPD and BN.

methodsPatients with BN (n = 53) and healthy controls (HCs; n = 87) completed a battery of measures assessing mentalizing including the Reflective Function Questionnaires (RFQ), the Object Relations Inventory (ORI; Differentiation-Relatedness Scales) and the Reading The Mind in The Eyes Test (RMET).

resultsPatients with BN scored significantly lower than HCs on all tests of mentalizing, with moderate to large between-group effect sizes. These differences were partially accounted for by BPD features as assessed with the Zanarini Rating Scale for Borderline Personality Disorder (ZAN-BPD), and partially by bulimic symptoms measured with the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q).

conclusionsPatients with BN have significantly lower levels of mentalizing as assessed with a broad range of tests compared to HCs. These differences were related to both bulimic symptoms and BPD features. Although further research in larger samples is needed, if replicated, these findings suggest that poor mentalizing may be a significant factor in BN patients and should be addressed in treatment, regardless of the presence of BPD features.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultBorderline Personality DisorderBulimia NervosaCase-Control StudiesComorbidityFemaleHumansMaleMentalizationMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdultBorderline personality disorderBulimia nervosaDifferentiation-relatednessEating disorderMentalizingReading the mind in the eyesReflective functionTheory of mind

Identifiers

PMID31060534
PMCPMC6501333
OpenAlexW2947874453

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.