“Glass fairies” and “bone children”: Adolescents and young adults with anorexia nervosa show positive reactions towards extremely emaciated body pictures measured by the startle reflex paradigm

In this study, we investigated the emotional processing of extremely emaciated body cues in adolescents and young adults with (n = 36) and without (n = 36) anorexia nervosa (AN), introducing a new picture type, which was taken from websites that promote extreme thinness and is targeted specifically at adolescents interested in extreme thinness. A startle reflex paradigm was used for implicit reactions, while a self‐assessment instrument was used for subjective responses. We found a significant group difference with a startle inhibition (appetitive response) among the patients and a startle potentiation (aversive response) among the controls, whereas no such difference for subjective measures was found. The results are in contrast to previous studies, which proposed a general failure to activate the appetitive motivational system in AN, but in keeping with findings from other addictions, where the same response pattern has been found. Implications for prevention and therapy are discussed.     

Health-related quality of life among adolescents with eating disorders

Objective

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an emerging area of research in eating disorders (EDs) that has not been examined in adolescents in detail. The aim of the current study is to investigate HRQoL in an adolescent ED sample, examining the impact of ED symptoms on HRQoL.

Methods

Sixty-seven treatment-seeking adolescents (57 females) with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) completed self-report measures of HRQoL and ED symptoms.

Results

Participants reported poorer HRQoL in mental health domains than in physical health domains. Disordered attitudes, binge eating, and compensatory behaviors were associated with poorer mental health HRQoL, and body dissatisfaction was associated with poorer physical health HRQoL.

Conclusion

The current study assessed HRQoL among adolescents with EDs, finding several consistencies with the literature on adults with EDs. Future research should compare adolescents and adults with EDs on HRQoL.     

The Val66Met polymorphism of the BDNF gene in anorexia nervosa: New data and a meta-analysis

Abstract

Objectives. The Val66Met polymorphism (rs6265) of the BDNF gene is a non-synonymous polymorphism, previously associated with anorexia nervosa (AN). Methods. We genotyped rs6265 in 235 patients with AN and 643 controls. Furthermore, we performed a systematic review of all case–control and family-based studies testing this SNP in AN, and combined the results in a meta-analysis. Results. The results of the case–control study were non-significant. For the meta-analysis, nine studies were identified (n_cases = 2,767; n_controls = 3,322, n_trios = 53) and included. Primarily, the analyses indicated an association with OR of 1.11 (P = 0.024) in the allelic contrast, and OR of 1.14 (P = 0.025) for the dominant effect of the Met allele. However, additional analyses revealed that the first published study (from those included in the meta-analysis) overly influenced the pooled effect size (possibly due to a phenomenon known as a winner's curse). When this case–control study was replaced by a trio study (n_trios = 293) performed on a largely overlapping sample, the effect size became smaller and non-significant, both for the allelic contrast (OR = 1.07, P = 0.156) and the dominant effect (OR = 1.07, P = 0.319). The quality of included studies was good and there was no significant heterogeneity across the effect sizes. Conclusions. Our analyses indicate that the BDNF Val66Met variant is not associated with AN at detectable levels.     

L’anorexie mentale : une fatigue de ne pas être soi ?

This article understands anorexia nervosa as a strategy for self-production, shaping the body in a certain way to achieve intersubjective recognition. More precisely, it would be a strategy to systematically achieve three objectives characteristic of modern social existence, where individuals are called upon to achieve themselves through their own resources, freeing themselves from any authority. Subjected to the injunction to be “someone”, and to achieve a remarkable individual performance, the anorexic subject would be singularly sensitive to the risks of failure that constitute these two social ideals. Thus, 1) thinness would allow the anorexic subject to avoid the question of his or her identity, by producing through the thin body a type of identity rather than a true subjectivity. Scared at the idea of not being able to define the borders and faculties of the “self”, the anorexic person would hide behind the type of identity suggested by a very slim appearance. 2) Working on their body, the anorexic subject would escape the hazards of conventional forms of work and self-actualization, by choosing a material – their own body – over which they have immediate power and which a priori only tests their will, by suppressing any external, unmanageable hazard. 3) Conscious of the social representations with which leanness is invested, the anorexic subject would control the kind of judgment made on them by others: they would thus escape the risk, normally structural, of not being recognized by the other conscious subjects, or of being misunderstood by them.     

The importance of distinguishing between the different eating disorders (sub)types when assessing emotion regulation strategies

People with eating disorders (ED) have difficulties regulating their emotions adaptively. Little is known about differences and similarities between different types of ED and how these regulation difficulties relate to other emotional problems. The present study examines maladaptive (suppression) and adaptive (cognitive reappraisal) emotion regulation strategies in women with different ED and relationships with anxiety and depression levels. In 32 women with AN restrictive subtype (ANR), 32 with AN binge-purge subtype (ANBP), 30 with bulimia nervosa (BN), 29 with binge eating disorder (BED), and 64 healthy women, the ERQ (emotion regulation) as well as STAI-T (anxiety), BDI-SF (depression), and EDDS (eating pathology) were administered. Women across different ED subtypes were inclined to suppress emotions and lacked the capacity to reappraise emotions (except women with ANBP). Correlational relations of suppression and reappraisal with anxiety and depression levels differed across ED groups. Emotion regulation problems were found across ED subtypes. However, the types of emotion regulation problems, and the effect of coexisting other emotional problems such as anxiety and depression may differ across ED subtypes. These findings illustrate the importance to of considering ED subtypes in emotion regulation research rather than consider ED as a whole.     

神经性厌食患者饮食行为管理的最佳证据总结

目的 检索、评价并整合国内外神经性厌食患者饮食行为管理的相关证据,为临床护理提供参考。方法系统检索国内外数据库中有关神经性厌食患者饮食行为管理的临床决策、推荐实践、证据总结、临床实践指南、系统评价/Meta分析和专家共识。检索时限为建库至2022年2月,由3名研究者对文献进行方法学质量评价,并根据主题对证据进行提取和汇总。结果 共纳入16篇文献,其中临床决策2篇,证据总结2篇,指南9篇,系统评价3篇。从多学科团队、管理目标、评估、管理实践、心理治疗、健康教育6个方面汇总26条最佳证据。结论 该研究总结了神经性厌食患者饮食行为管理的最佳证据,在后续证据转化过程中应结合国内临床具体情境,有针对性地选择证据,以规范患者饮食行为,改善其临床结局。