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Objective: Body and food‐related information are thought to activate cognitive biases and contribute to the maintenance of eating disorders (ED). Approach‐avoidance biases may play an important role in the maintenance of dietary restriction and excessive food intake. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine approach‐avoidance biases toward food and body stimuli in individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and healthy controls (HC). Methods: The study included 42 individuals with AN, 24 individuals with BN, and 38 HCs. We used two implicit Approach‐Avoidance Tasks (AAT) to assess approach‐avoidance biases: participants completed a Food‐AAT (high‐calorie vs. low‐calorie food) and a Body‐AAT (thin vs. normal weight bodies). Additionally, explicit ratings of food and body stimuli were assessed. Results: There were no significant Group × Stimulus × Direction interactions in the implicit Food‐AAT or implicit Body‐AAT. In explicit ratings, individuals with AN and BN reported less urge to eat and more regret if they ate high‐calorie and low‐calorie food; individuals with AN and BN rated normal weight bodies as less normal weight, less attractive and less desirable than HCs. There were no group differences in explicit ratings of the thin body. Discussion: We did not find evidence for biased approach‐avoidance tendencies toward food or body stimuli in individuals with AN or BN. Future studies are necessary to understand conflicting findings regarding approach‐avoidance biases toward food and body stimuli in individuals with ED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Etiological models of eating disorders (EDs) describe body dissatisfaction (BD)as one of the major influences fostering dysfunctional body‐related behaviour and disordered eating behaviour. BD is influenced by repeated exposure to thin ideals that evoke high self‐ideal discrepancy and result in body‐related cognitive distortions such as thought–shape fusion body (TSF‐B). The aim of this study was to investigate the covariation of daily media exposure and the experience of TSF‐B in a naturalistic setting. It was further analysed whether TSF‐B is associated with self‐ideal discrepancy, dysfunctional body‐related behaviour, and disordered eating behaviour. Moreover, person‐related predictors of TSF‐B were explored. Altogether, 51healthy female students (mean age 21.06years, SD = 1.76) participated in an ecological momentary assessment study with four daily surveys during 10consecutive days. Exposure with thin ideals in contrast to exposure to unspecific media contents went along with the experience of TSF‐B. TSF‐B was associated with higher self‐ideal discrepancy and dysfunctional body‐related behaviour as well as more pronounced disordered eating behaviour, suggesting that TSF‐B is a common phenomenon in young healthy females' everyday life. A main effect of trait measures (e.g., pre‐existing BD) on TSF‐B was observable but has no moderating effect. Thus, a specific vulnerability has not been detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Objective Previous research demonstrated that the exposure to media portrayals of the thin body ideal negatively affects body satisfaction and mood of healthy women and thus represents a sociocultural risk factor for the development of eating disorders. However, at present, it is not known whether negative effects of the thin ideal are pronounced in eating-disordered patients. Method Female inpatients with a current diagnosis of anorexia nervosa ( N = 36), bulimia nervosa ( N = 32), or mood or anxiety disorder ( N = 31), and women with no current psychiatric diagnosis were randomly assigned to exposure to magazine pictures depicting the thin female body ideal or landscape scenes in two experimental phases (leafing through a magazine followed by instructed imagination of a picture from the magazine). The groups were compared on measures of body satisfaction and mood that were collected before and after the two phases. Results Leafing through a fashion magazine was not associated with negative effects on body satisfaction or mood in all groups. Imagining the thin ideal resulted in a decrease in body satisfaction and a decrease in positive mood. We found no diagnosis-specific effects indicating no stronger negative impact of the thin ideal on eating-disorder patients. Discussion Given the lacking differences between eating-disordered patients and controls, these findings underline the importance of future research to enhance our understanding of what happens when patients are exposed to external or internal stimuli of media images of the thin ideal. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2016; 49:708-715) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]