Premium
Attentional bias in eating disorders
Author(s) -
Shafran Roz,
Lee Michelle,
Cooper Zafra,
Palmer Robert L.,
Fairburn Christopher G.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.20375
Subject(s) - eating disorders , attentional bias , psychopathology , psychology , anxiety , clinical psychology , psychological intervention , disordered eating , bulimia nervosa , psychiatry
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 ofanxiety ( 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. © 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2007