Emotion-processing deficits in eating disorders

OBJECTIVE: First, we measured both emotional awareness and alexithymia to understand better emotion-processing deficits in eating disorder patients (EDs). Second, we increased the reliability of the measures by limiting the influence of confounding factors (negative affects). METHOD: Seventy females with eating disorders were compared with 70 female controls. Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; depression), the Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS; anxiety), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS; alexithymia), and the Level of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS). RESULTS: EDs exhibited higher alexithymia scores and lower LEAS scores, with an inability to identify and describe their own emotions, as well as an impairment in mentalizing others' emotional experience. Whereas alexithymia scores were related to depression scores, LEAS scores were not. After controlling for depression, alexithymia scores were similar in EDs and controls. DISCUSSION: The marked impairment in emotion processing found in EDs is independent of affective disorders. Thus, the joint use of TAS and LEAS suggests a global emotion-processing deficit in EDs.     

Emotion recognition and alexithymia in females with non-clinical disordered eating

ObjectivesThe aims were to determine if emotion recognition deficits observed in eating disorders generalise to non-clinical disordered eating and to establish if other psychopathological and personality factors contributed to, or accounted for, these deficits.DesignFemales with high (n = 23) and low (n = 22) scores on the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) were assessed on their ability to recognise emotion from videotaped social interactions. Participants also completed a face memory task, a Stroop task, and self-report measures of alexithymia, depression and anxiety.ResultsRelative to the low EDI group, high EDI participants exhibited a general deficit in recognition of emotion, which was related to their scores on the alexithymia measure and the bulimia subscale of the EDI. They also exhibited a specific deficit in the recognition of anger, which was related to their scores on the body dissatisfaction subscale of the EDI.ConclusionsIn line with clinical eating disorders, non-clinical disordered eating is associated with emotion recognition deficits. However, the nature of these deficits appears to be dependent upon the type of eating psychopathology and the degree of co-morbid alexithymia.     

The influence of emotional intensity on facial emotion recognition in disordered eating

Significant facial emotion recognition (FER) deficits have been observed in participants exhibiting high levels of eating psychopathology. The current study aimed to determine if the pattern of FER deficits is influenced by intensity of facial emotion and to establish if eating psychopathology is associated with a specific pattern of emotion recognition errors that is independent of other psychopathological or personality factors. Eighty females, 40 high and 40 low scorers on the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI) were presented with a series of faces, each featuring one of five emotional expressions at one of four intensities, and were asked to identify the emotion portrayed. Results revealed that, in comparison to Low EDI scorers, high scorers correctly recognised significantly fewer expressions, particularly of fear and anger. There was also a trend for this deficit to be more evident for subtle displays of emotion (50% intensity). Deficits in anger recognition were related specifically to scores on the body dissatisfaction subscale of the EDI. Error analyses revealed that, in comparison to Low EDI scorers, high scorers made significantly more and fear-as-anger errors. Also, a tendency to label anger expressions as sadness was related to body dissatisfaction. Current findings confirm FER deficits in subclinical eating psychopathology and extend these findings to subtle expressions of emotion. Furthermore, this is the first study to establish that these deficits are related to a specific pattern of recognition errors. Impaired FER could disrupt normal social functioning and might represent a risk factor for the development of more severe psychopathology.     

Is migraine related to the eating disorders?

Migraine and the eating disorders, particularly bulimia nervosa, share some common demographics, phenomenology, psychopathology, and treatments. Bulimics also appear to be more sensitive to the induction of severe migrainous headaches than controls following challenge with the 5-HT agonist, m-chlorophenylpiperazine (m-CPP), but not placebo or L-tryptophan. This supports a common pathophysiological relationship involving postsynaptic 5-HT dysfunction between these disorders. In order to further explore the possible relationship between eating disorders and migraine, we administered a modified version of the Diagnostic Survey of the Eating Disorders (D5ED) and the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI) to a group of female migraine patients attending the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Neurology Clinic (n = 34). Of the 34 migraine patients surveyed, 88% reported dieting behavior, 59% reported binge eating, and 26% reported self-induced vomiting during their lifetimes. Compared to the responses of a group of normal female controls (n = 577), patients with migraine had elevated scores on four of the eight subscales of the EDI: Body Dissatisfaction (p ≤ .02), Perfectionism (p ≤ .01), Interpersonal Distrust (p ≤ .02), and Ineffectiveness (p ≤ .06). These findings support the hypothesis that common pathophysiological mechanisms, perhaps involving 5-HT dysregulation, may be involved in these two disorders. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Disgust sensitivity in eating disorders: a preliminary investigation

BACKGROUND: Disgust is a basic emotion that has been relatively neglected in psychiatry in general and in eating disorders in particular. Nevertheless, there are features of disgust and its more complex derivatives (e.g., shame) which suggest that disgust may have a role to play in eating disorders. METHOD: Seventy-four patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, eating disorder not otherwise specified, and obese binge eater were compared with 15 control subjects on their levels of disgust sensitivity. RESULTS: Overall, eating disorder patients did not appear to be more sensitive to disgust-eliciting stimuli than comparison subjects, although there was a tendency for patients to be more disgusted by body products. However, drive for thinness and bulimia scores were related to higher levels of disgust sensitivity to food, death, and magical contagion. General psychopathology did not appear to be related to levels of disgust sensitivity. DISCUSSION: Although patients are not more sensitive than controls to the disgust-eliciting stimuli measured, disgust still has a positive relationship to eating disorder symptoms. Future studies will need to examine more precisely what this relationship might be.     

Attentional bias in eating disorders

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between eating disorders and attentional biases. METHOD: The first study comprised 23 female patients with clinical eating disorders, women with high levels of anxiety (n = 19), and three female normal control groups comprising low (n = 31), moderate (n = 21), or high levels of shape concern (n = 23). The second study comprised 82 women with clinical eating disorders and 44 healthy controls. All participants completed measures of eating disorder psychopathology and completed a modified pictorial dot-probe task. RESULTS: In the first study, biases were found for negative eating and neutral weight pictures, and for positive eating pictures in women with eating disorders; these biases were greater than those found in anxious and normal controls. The second study replicated these findings and biases were also found for negative and neutral shape stimuli. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that future research should establish whether such biases warrant specific therapeutic interventions.     

Body checking and its avoidance in eating disorders

OBJECTIVE: One expression of the core psychopathology of eating disorders is the repeated checking and avoidance of shape or weight. Two studies are reported. The primary purpose of the first was to describe the phenomenology of such body checking and avoidance. The aim of the second was to compare body checking and avoidance in women with and without a clinical eating disorder. METHOD: In Study 1, 64 female patients with clinical eating disorders participated in a semistructured interview assessing the features of body checking and avoidance. In the second study, a self-report questionnaire was used to compare body checking and avoidance in women with and without a clinical eating disorder (n = 110). RESULTS: The majority (92%) of the patients in Study 1 checked their bodies to assess their shape or weight and this was associated significantly with eating disorder symptoms. In Study 2, the clinical group had significantly more body checking and avoidance than the comparison group, and there was a strong association between eating disorder psychopathology and body checking and avoidance. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the view that body checking and avoidance are direct expressions of the overevaluation of shape and weight. Further work is needed to determine whether these expressions contribute to the maintenance of eating disorders.     

The relationship between rumination and eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Rumination has been described as a symptom in association with eating disorders, but also as a separate disorder. METHOD: A series of 8 female volunteers who reported rumination were systematically screened for the presence of eating disorders and other psychopathology. RESULTS: Seven met current or prior criteria for an Axis I disorder and five had a current or prior eating disorder. DISCUSSION: The importance of screening for eating disorders among women who ruminate, and for screening for rumination among eating disorder patients, is stressed.     

Feelings and fantasy in eating disorders: A factor analysis of the Toronto alexithymia scale

The aim of the study was to examine the factor structure of alexithymia in patients with eating disorders and to compare scores on these factors with a non-eating disordered population. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) was given to patients with restricting anorexia nervosa (AN/R, n = 29), bulimia nervosa (BN, n = 83), anorexia with a subtype bulimia (AN/BN, n = 15), and 79 female students. Factors were extracted using a principal-components factor analysis. Four factors were found—Inability to Identify Feelings, Paucity of Fantasy, Noncommunication of Feelings, and Concrete Thinking. All three eating disorder groups were less able to identify their feelings than the comparison group and AN/R patients had a more diminished fantasy life than BN patients and students. Groups did not differ significantly on concrete thinking but there was a trend towards significance on noncommunication of feelings, with patient groups expressing their feelings less than comparison subjects. Differences between patient groups on factors of the TAS suggest that scores are not simply a result of psychopathology in general. Approaches which promote the identification and expression of feelings may be particularly useful in the treatment of eating disorders. © 1995 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Binge-eating disorder in Brazilian women on a weight-loss program

OBJECTIVE: To examine binge-eating disorder (BED) and its association with obesity, weight patterns, and psychopathology in a Brazilian sample of female participants of a weight-loss program in S?o Paulo, Brazil. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Two hundred and seventeen overweight (body mass index >/= 25 kg/m(2)) women, ages 15 to 59 years, enrolled in the Weight Watchers Program were recruited for the study at a program branch meeting after completing the Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns-Revised, Beck Depression Inventory, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20. Participants were categorized into four groups: those who met questionnaire criteria for BED, those who met questionnaire criteria for bulimia nervosa (BN), those that reported binge eating but did not meet all the criteria for any eating disorder (BE), and those with no eating disorder symptoms (No ED). Groups were compared on measures of weight, depressive symptoms, and alexithymia. RESULTS: Binge eating was frequently reported by women in this study (BED, 16.1%; BN, 4.6%; BE, 22.6%). BED women had significantly higher body mass index, greater highest weight ever, and more frequent weight cycling than the No ED group. BED women also reported more depressive symptoms than BE and No ED women, and were more alexithymic than the No ED group. BE women presented more frequent weigh cycling and were also more depressed and alexithymic than the No ED group. DISCUSSION: BED is not uncommon in overweight Brazilian women, and similar to North American and European samples, it is associated with overweight and higher levels of psychopathology in this population.     

An examination of the food addiction construct in obese patients with binge eating disorder

Objective:

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Yale food addiction scale (YFAS) in obese patients with binge eating disorder (BED) and explored its association with measures of eating disorder and associated psychopathology.

Method:

Eighty‐one obese treatment‐seeking BED patients were given the YFAS, structured interviews to assess psychiatric disorders and eating disorder psychopathology, and other pathology measures.

Results:

Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a one‐factor solution with an excellent fit. Classification of “food addiction” was met by 57% of BED patients. Patients classified as meeting YFAS “food addiction” criteria had significantly higher levels of depression, negative affect, emotion dysregulation, eating disorder psychopathology, and lower self‐esteem. YFAS scores were also significant predictors of binge eating frequency above and beyond other measures.

Discussion:

The subset of BED patients classified as having YFAS “food addiction” appear to represent a more disturbed variant characterized by greater eating disorder psychopathology and associated pathology. © 2011 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2011)     

First-degree relative history of alcoholism in eating disorder inpatients: relationship to eating and substance use psychopathology

OBJECTIVE: We examined the influence of family history of alcoholism on the presentation and course of inpatients with eating disorders (ED) by comparing ED behaviors, substance abuse behaviors, and psychopathology of patients with alcoholic first-degree relatives (AFDR+) to those without alcoholic first-degree relatives (AFDR-). METHOD: Female inpatients admitted to a specialty eating disorders service completed demographic, family history, behavioral, and psychological questionnaires (N=217). Body mass index (BMI) at admission and discharge, length of stay, and rates of weight gain were calculated. RESULTS: AFDR+ participants did not differ from AFDR- participants diagnostically, but AFDR+ participants did report higher lifetime frequencies of several ED and substance abuse behaviors. Measures of ED psychopathology and personality vulnerability were also elevated in the AFDR+ group. DISCUSSION: ED inpatients with a first-degree family history of alcoholism demonstrate increased psychopathology in eating behavior, substance use, and personality vulnerability domains. While the genetic diathesis for alcoholism is likely distinct from that for eating disorders, these findings suggest that first-degree relative history of alcoholism may nevertheless exert a negative influence on eating disorder behaviors.     

Smoking in eating disorders

OBJECTIVE: Smoking has been reported as an appetite and weight control method in eating disorders; however, few studies have explored patterns of smoking across subtypes of eating disorders. The aim of this paper was to explore the patterns and prevalence of smoking behavior in 1,524 women from two of the multisite Price Foundation Genetic studies. METHOD: Smoking behavior was assessed in 306 individuals with anorexia nervosa-restricting type (RAN), 186 with anorexia nervosa-purging type (PAN), 180 with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (ANBN), 107 with anorexia nervosa-binging type (BAN), 71 individuals with purging type-bulimia nervosa (PBN), and 674 female community controls. We compared smoking prevalence and smoking behaviors across eating disorder (ED) subtypes and in comparison to controls using the Fagerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence (FTND). RESULTS: Overall, women with eating disorders reported higher rates of smoking and greater nicotine dependence than controls. Women with binge/purge subtypes of eating disorders reported the highest rates of smoking of all of the subtypes. Smoking in eating disorders was related to impulsive personality traits. CONCLUSIONS: Women with eating disorders appear to be at increased risk for smoking, particularly those who binge eat and/or purge and display impulsive personality characteristics. Given the high prevalence, the impact of ongoing smoking on maintenance of eating disorders symptoms is worthy of both clinical and research attention.     

The relationship between compulsive buying and eating disorders

OBJECTIVE: Compulsive buying has received increased research attention in the last decade. The disorder has high rates of comorbidity for other disorders, including eating disorders. This study explored the possible relationship between compulsive buying and eating disorders. METHOD: Twenty women who scored in the pathological range on a measure of compulsive buying and 20 controls were recruited via the media. Various measures of psychopathology and eating disorder symptoms were administered to both groups. RESULT: Compulsive buyers were significantly more likely to have a higher lifetime history of substance abuse or dependence. No differences existed between normal controls and compulsive buyers in prevalence of current or lifetime eating disorders, nor were there differences in scores of eating-related psychopathology. DISCUSSION: This work failed to demonstrate an increased risk for eating disorder in compulsive buyers, although a higher rate of substance dependence or abuse and higher scores on pathological personality dimension scales were seen.     

孤独症儿童对人物面孔图表情识别特征及情绪归因特点

【目的】 了解学龄期孤独症儿童的面部表情识别和情绪归因能力及特点。 【方法】 采用静态中国人物面部表情图片测查19例孤独症[男17例、女2例,年龄(9.0±1.8)岁]和21例性别、年龄匹配的对照儿童[男19例、女2例,年龄(9.7±1.8)岁]的表情识别和情绪归因能力。 【结果】 孤独症组除讨厌、吃惊表情配对得分和害怕表情命名得分与对照组无差异外,余表情配对和表情命名能力均低于对照组(P＜0.05);除害怕目标归因得分与对照组差异无统计学意义外,余情绪归因得分均低于对照组(P＜0.05);孤独症组各情绪归因总分差异无统计学意义,对照组命名归因总分高于配对归因和目标归因总分(P＜0.013);孤独症组开心表情命名得分高于中性、负性表情得分(P＜0.002 3),对照组开心表情配对、表情命名和情绪归因得分高于中性、负性表情(P＜0.002 3)。 【结论】 孤独症面部表情识别和情绪归因能力低下,以“非情感”方式识别表情,表情识别发展模式与正常儿童不同。     

The disorder-salient Stroop effect as a measure of psychopathology in eating disorders

Objectives: The aim was to assess, using sophisticated experimental methods, the amount of interference on a Stroop task in patients with eating disorders, under conditions of blocked and mixed stimulus presentation. Methods: Patients with eating disorders and nonpatients named the color in which a word was displayed. Words came from an experimental category (food/eating, weight/shape, “emotion,” or affectively neutral word) or from a matched set of unrelated control words. Color-naming latencies were compared in a blocked condition, with words from just one set in each block, and in a mixed condition, with a mixture of word types in each block. Results: In the mixed condition, patients took longer to color-name food/eating and weight/shape words than control words. With blocked presentation this effect was magnified; and patients with bulimia nervosa also showed increased naming-latency for “emotion” words. Non-patients showed neither effect and no group showed interference for the affectively neutral category. Patients' interference effects correlated reliably with self-reported depression and anxiety. Discussion: Sources of interference and methodological and diagnostic implications are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 24:65–82, 1998.     

Self-recognition of disordered eating among women with bulimic-type eating disorders: A community-based study

OBJECTIVE: Self-recognition of eating-disordered behavior was examined in a community sample of young adult women (n = 158) with bulimic eating disorders. METHOD: A vignette was presented describing a fictional person meeting diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa. Participants were asked whether they might currently have a problem such as the one described. Scores on measures of eating disorder psychopathology, functional impairment and general psychological distress were compared between participants who recognized a problem with their eating and those who did not. RESULTS: Participants who recognized a problem with their eating (n = 86, 51.9%) had higher levels of eating disorder psychopathology and general psychological distress, were more likely to engage in self-induced vomiting, and tended to be heavier, than those who did not (n = 72, 48.1%). In addition, participants who recognized a problem were more likely to have received treatment for an eating or weight problem. In multivariate analysis, the occurrence of self-induced vomiting and higher body weight were the only variables significantly associated with recognition. CONCLUSION: Poor recognition of eating-disordered behavior may be conducive to low or inappropriate treatment seeking among individuals with bulimic- type eating disorders. The perception that only disorders involving self-induced vomiting are pathological may need to be addressed in prevention programs.     

Alexithymia and eating behaviour in severely obese patients

Background: Alexithymia is the inability to express feelings with words and comprises a psychological construct frequently found in obese individuals. In eating disordered patients who show a tendency to lose control over food intake, personality traits with alexithymic characteristics have been demonstrated. The present cross‐sectional study investigated the relationships between alexithymia and eating behaviour in severely obese patients. Methods: This study analysed 150 obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery and 132 subjects at more than 1 year after biliopancreatic diversion (BPD), when body weight has steadily normalised and any preoccupation with weight, food and diet has been completely abandoned. Obese and operated subjects completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), and eating behaviour was assessed via a semi‐structured interview exploring binge eating disorder (BED), night eating and emotional eating, as well as by utilisation of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ). Results: Although alexithymic patients showed deranged eating behaviour, as evaluated by the TFEQ scores, the frequency of BED, night eating and emotional eating was similar in alexithymic (TAS > 60) and non‐alexithymic patients. However, the prevalence of alexithymia was similar in obese and BPD subjects, whereas, in the operated subjects, TFEQ scores were lower (P < 0.005) than those in obese patients. Conclusions: These data suggest that, in severely obese patients, alexithymia does not influence eating behaviour; in severely obese patients, the tendency to lose control over food intake apparently represents a psychological construct that is substantially independent from alexithymia.     

Structural relationships among attachment insecurity,alexithymia, and body esteem in women with eating disorders

Patients with eating disorders tend to experience low levels of body esteem. To assess the psychosocial processes that may predict low body esteem in these individuals, we assessed the structural interrelations among attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, alexithymia, and body esteem in a cross-sectional sample of patients with eating disorders. We tested a model in which alexithymia mediates the relationship between attachment insecurity and body esteem. Participants were 300 women with anorexia nervosa (n = 109), bulimia nervosa (n = 130), and eating disorders not otherwise specified (n = 61) who completed pretreatment self-report questionnaires at intake for a day hospital treatment program. We found a direct and negative relationship between attachment anxiety and body esteem. Additionally, attachment avoidance had an indirect negative relationship to body esteem through alexithymia. These results indicate that therapists may attend to attachment insecurity and affective regulation strategies when addressing body image issues in patients with eating disorders.