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A qualitative exploration of the perception of emotions in anorexia nervosa: A basic emotion and developmental perspective
Author(s) -
Fox John R. E.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/cpp.631
Subject(s) - anorexia nervosa , psychology , anger , anger management , eating disorders , alexithymia , perception , developmental psychology , grounded theory , psychotherapist , qualitative research , clinical psychology , social science , neuroscience , sociology
Difficulties in emotional processing have long been regarded as a core difficulty within anorexia nervosa. Recent research and theory have started to highlight how eating disorder symptoms are often used to regulate painful emotions. However, there has been a lack of theoretical sophistication in how emotions have been considered within the eating disorders. This study was designed to use qualitative methodologies to address these inadequacies and provide a richer, more thorough account of emotions within anorexia nervosa. It used a grounded theory methodology to gather and analyse interview data from 11 participants who had a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, being seen at a regional eating disorder service (both inpatient and day patient). The results highlighted two main overarching themes regarding the perception and management of emotions within anorexia nervosa: (1) development of poor meta‐emotional skills; and (2) perception and management of emotion in anorexia nervosa. These two categories comprised of a significant number of components from the qualitative analysis, including difficulties with anger, meta‐emotional skills and poverty of emotional environments while growing up. Once the data had been collected and analysed, links were made between the findings of this research and the current literature base. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message: Practitoners needs to consider the importance of poor meta‐emotional skills within anorexia nervosa. These meta skills appears to be more complicated than the simplistic notion of alexithymia. The routes to these difficulties in emotion appear to be drawn from a complicated developmental picture. The role of anger needs to be considered more fully in the psychotherapeutic work with people with anorexia nervosa. This study's findings suggest that increasing levels of anger may play a role in increased eating disorder symptomatology, especially vomitting.