Are physical activity and nutrition linked to personality disorders? Health habits and personality disorders: A scoping review

Abstract

Individuals with personality disorders (PDs) have a decreased life expectancy compared with the general population in part due to physical illnesses. Many hypotheses have been suggested to explain those physical illnesses such as hormone imbalance, medication, lack of physical activity, and unhealthy diet. However, little is known about the relation between lifestyle and PDs. The purpose of this scoping review is to regroup the available information on this topic. We searched the literature up to February 2021 using four databases and found 21 articles analyzing the relation between lifestyle and PDs in observational studies including 153,081 participants from diverse populations going from general population to adults in psychiatric care. Most studies used measures of lifestyle as control variables or did not use lifestyle variables at all. Moreover, the instruments used to measure lifestyle variables lacked precision at best. Two studies demonstrated a relation between early malnutrition and further development of PDs, but those results may be influenced by confounding variables and cannot indicate a clear link between nutrition and personality disorder. The lack of solid evidence we observed is surprising, considering the multiple benefits individuals with PDs could get from a healthy lifestyle. More studies are needed to thoroughly analyze the impact of lifestyle on PDs and vice versa.

Pattern, preferences, barriers, and correlates of self-reported physical activity in adults with borderline personality disorder: An online survey in western countries

“…These data are surprising and might indicate that the mean PA level is skewed by extreme individuals with large PA volume. However, the present data are difficult to put in perspective because of the absence of studies reporting PA level in this population (St-Amour et al, 2023).…”

“…This is the first study to describe the PA level, preferences, barriers and correlates in a sample of adults with BPD. Although online studies pose many challenges, they are efficient and doable in adults with BPD(DeShong & Tucker, 2019;Lawn & McMahon, 2015).However, the present data are difficult to put in perspective because of the absence of studies reporting PA level in this population(St-Amour et al, 2023).…”

“…There is a growing interest in research for PA in individuals with BPD. However, to our knowledge there are very few observational studies (St-Amour et al, 2023) Being the first study in this population, the aims are to: 1-describe the self-reported PA level of adults with BPD; 2-describe the main preferences regarding type, location, intensity, supervision, and advice related to PA in adults with BPD; 3-describe the main barriers to practise PA in adults with BPD; and 4examine the main sociodemographic and health variables associated to the self-reported level of PA in adults with BPD.…”

“…However, only one study to our knowledge analyzed the short-term effect of PA on BPD itself (St-Amour et al, 2022). No study examined the barriers, preferences and pattern of PA in adults with BPD as reported in a recent review (St-Amour, Cailhol, et al, 2021; St-Amour et al, 2023).…”

“…There is a growing interest in research for PA in individuals with BPD. However, to our knowledge there are very few observational studies (St-Amour et al, 2023) and only one experimental study (St-Amour et al, 2022) addressing this topic. To develop well-adapted PA interventions for adults with BPD in the future, we need to identify the most important factors associated with adherence.…”