This study describes 84 obese patients compared with 63 matched, normal-weight patients, all treated by psychoanalysis or psychoanalytic therapy. Information about the characteristics of the two samples was contributed by 72 psychoanalysts, members of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis.

The study had three goals: (1) to test the feasibility of a largescale research project using data contributed by psychoanalysts with disparate theoretical orientations working in various parts of the country; (2) to assess in a systematic way, on the basis of psychoanalytic data, personality characteristics of obese as compared with non-obese patients; and (3) to ascertain the effectiveness of psychoanalysis in treating two problems specific to obesity: overweight and disparagement of body image.

The long period of time each psychoanalyst spends with each patient in an individual practice has been a barrier to studying more than a relatively small number of patients suffering from a