The study, led by the Eating Disorders Unit of the Clinical Psychology Service of the Bellvitge Hospital and the Psychoneurobiology of Eating Disorders and Addictive Behaviors group of IDIBELL, has examined the psychopathology, personality traits and differences in the response to treatment of 157 immigrant patients and 947 native Spanish patients (1104 outpatients in total) with eating disorders treated at the center.
The onset and subsequent evolution of eating disorders is influenced by various factors, including personality traits and psychosocial variables. In this sense, there are a series of common factors in practically all EDs, such as concern about weight and physical fitness, anxiety, depression and certain personality traits, such as avoidance of harm and low self-direction (in psychology, the ability to regulate and adapt behavior to the demands of a situation to achieve goals chosen by the person).
According to the study’s conclusions, immigrant patients registered a lower percentage of adherence to treatments than native patients, as well as worse clinical outcomes and lower remission of the disorder. “Immigrant patients with eating disorders have different psychological profiles with respect to eating psychopathology, general psychopathology and personality traits that can contribute to worsening treatment outcomes,” explains Dr. Fernando Fernández Aranda, director of the Eating Disorders Unit at Bellvitge Hospital and principal investigator of IDIBELL and CIBER and professor at the UB.
Immigrant patients included in the study reported less desire to lose weight and less dissatisfaction with their bodies, along with greater distrust of personal relationships, fear of maturity, perfectionism, symptoms of anxiety and distress related to culture shock, and self-transcendence (decreased sense of personality).
In addition to the differentiated personal traits that the study has identified among immigrant patients, there is the negative impact of sociocultural factors, such as acculturation, the process of adaptation and balance between the culture of origin and that of the host country, “previous studies have underlined how disparities between the aesthetic standards of the host culture and those of the cultural heritage of the migrant can exacerbate the symptoms of EDs, especially in people with a strong link to their cultural heritage,” says Dr. Fernández Aranda.
With this series of conditioning factors, the study highlights the need to develop “culturally sensitive and effective treatments, adapted to the needs of each person in an increasingly diverse and multicultural society”.
The study, which has been published in the journal Nutrients, has involved the University of Vrije, in Brussels (Belgium) and the University of Bologna (Italy), among others.
About Bellvitge University Hospital
Bellvitge Hospital is a public, university, research and innovative hospital. With more than 5,200 expert and committed professionals, it is the local hospital for the citizens of L’Hospitalet and El Prat de Llobregat and a reference centre of maximum complexity for 2 million people, the entire southern axis of Catalonia. It is the Catalan health centre that performs the most complex surgery, especially oncological surgery, and is part of the Bellvitge Health Campus, recognised by the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) as a Comprehensive Cancer Centre for its excellence in cancer care, research and teaching. It integrates in the projects the orientation to improve the patient experience and networking with primary care and the surrounding hospitals. Oriented towards personalised medicine, it has the best genetic diagnosis and imaging tools for cancer and rare diseases, which are complemented by the High Precision Diagnostic Centre, which has the first PET/Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the healthcare network in Spain. It registers about 26,000 major surgery interventions annually; 39,000 discharges; 400,000 outpatient visits and about 100,000 diagnostic tests.
About IDIBELL
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a research centre created in 2004 and specialising in cancer, neuroscience, translational medicine and regenerative medicine. It has a team of more than 1,500 professionals who, from 73 research groups, publish more than 1,400 scientific articles a year. L’IDIBELL is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Health Institute, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
IDIBELL is a member of the Campus d’Excelencia Internacional of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centres accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the HR Excellence in Research program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Centre of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).