Depression, anxiety and coping styles in bulimia nervosa

The aim of our study was to assess the severity of symptoms of depression and anxiety and use of stress-management strategies in Polish and French patients with bulimia nervosa. The study included 30 Polish girls and 14 French girls afflicted by bulimia nervosa and a control group including 30 Polish and 17 French randomly selected female students. Mean age of Polish and French patients with bulimia was 21.2 years and 22.9 years, respectively. We used the Zigmond and Snaith Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Carver Brief COPE questionnaire. Polish girls with bulimia nervosa demonstrate a significantly higher level of depression (p=0.05) and anxiety (p=0.01) as compared with healthy students. Also in French patients present a significantly higher level of depression (p=0.05) and anxiety (p=0.05) as compared with the control group. The results of our study revealed significant differences in stress-management strategies between experimental and control groups. In the Polish group, coping strategies were related to active stress relief, planning, behaviour disorganization, withdrawal, positive re-interpretation, sense of humour, negation and use of psychoactive substances. In the French group, coping strategies included: active stress relief and behaviour disorganization. Furthermore, the results of Brief COPE test indicate that Polish girls with bulimia nervosa resort significantly less to coping strategies based on positive reinterpretation, sense of humour and acceptance than French patients. Polish girls scored higher in coping strategies focusing on the use of psychoactive substances.