Explicit Life Goals of Patients with Anorexia and Bulimia nervosa

Abstract

Explicit Life Goals of Patients with Anorexia and Bulimia nervosa Background: Identifying and promoting explicit goals have proven helpful in the treatment of different groups of patients. Especially the potential impact of life goals on psychopathology or mental health and their effects on treatment motivation deserve to be recognized. However, the relevance of individual goals for women with eating disorders is yet to be studied. Therefore, this study examines explicit goals of female patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). Methods: Inpatients with AN (n = 27) and BN (n = 20) as well as healthy women (n = 56) worked on an idiographically oriented question concerning their goals in life. The Striving Instrumentality Matrix was applied to measure conflicts and integration of goals. A short version of the Incongruence Questionnaire was completed to capture goal attainment. Results: Women with AN and BN pursued explicit goals essentially identical to those of healthy participants. Although eating disorder inpatients attributed a higher instrumentality to their goals than healthy females (p < 0.001), they displayed distinct deficits concerning the realization of explicit goals (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Possible causes are discussed for the result that patients with AN and BN, more than healthy women, judged their goals to be mutually supportive of each other. As patients with eating disorders showed distinct deficits concerning the realization of their goals, it would be beneficial to set a clear focus on attaining the patients' explicit goals in the treatment of eating disorders.