Link between personality traits, eating disorders and obesity.

• Low self-compassion has been associated with increased body dissatisfaction, a quest for thinness, but also to symptoms associated with EDs and obesity. Indeed, low levels of self-compassion contribute to impaired processing of negative emotions, leading to increased depression and anxiety, which are important are major risk factors for these pathologies (cf. anxiety and depression).

• Cognitive dissonance is a negative affective state that can be experienced when our actions are at odds with our beliefs, values and goals. This emotional state generally leads to an increased body dissatisfaction anxiety and negative emotions already associated to an increased risk of EDs and obesity in the scientific literature (see Emotions section).

Impulsivity appears to be a key predictive factor to the development of overweight and obesity. When this impulsivity is combined with negative emotions, a loss of control can be observed and is usually associated with overeating.

Finally, poor interpersonal relationships have been identified as risk factor for the onset and maintenance of eating disorders. Indeed, there is a higher probability of creating insecure and pathological relationships among people suffering from and obesity.

In this way, the study of personality could help identify at-risk populations, and thus promote prevention by means of targeted screening. What’s more, identifying these risk factors will help optimize patient management.