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Threat-related attentional bias in anorexia nervosa.

Authors :: Dipl-Psych IS
Renwick B
de Jong H
Kenyon M
Sharpe H
Jacobi C
Schmidt U
Source :: The International journal of eating disorders [Int J Eat Disord] 2014 Mar; Vol. 47 (2), pp. 168-73. Date of Electronic Publication: 2013 Nov 26.
Publication Year :: 2014
Abstract: Objective: Attentional bias (AB) modification treatment targeting general or social anxiety has been recently highlighted as a potential novel approach for the treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN). The purpose of this study was to examine threat-related AB in patients with ANand healthy control participants (HC) and the relationship between AB and eating disorder and other psychopathology.<br />Method: Forty-nine female outpatients with AN or Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Anorexia Type (EDNOS-AN), and 44 female HC completed a dot-probe task with threat words and a range of self-report measures assessing eating disorder symptoms and other psychopathology.<br />Results: There was no evidence for a differential threat-related AB in AN patients despite elevated anxiety in this group. The AB-index, a parameter of the magnitude of attention allocation when two competing stimuli are presented, did not correlate with any of the self-report measures. However, patients with AN responded significantly more slowly to the probe as compared to controls, regardless of the valence or position of the stimuli.<br />Discussion: The results suggest that the AB in AN patients may be specific to eating disorder-relevant anxieties.<br /> (Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)