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Anxiety Impacts Cognitive Inhibition in Remitted Anorexia Nervosa
Author(s) -
Ely Alice V.,
Wierenga Christina E.,
Kaye Walter H.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
european eating disorders review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.511
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1099-0968
pISSN - 1072-4133
DOI - 10.1002/erv.2451
Subject(s) - anorexia nervosa , anxiety , eating disorders , cognition , psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , anorexia , medicine
Objective Eating disorders are complex psychiatric disorders, associated with alterations in neural and cognitive functioning. Research suggests inhibition and set‐shifting deficits in anorexia nervosa (AN), but less is known about the persistence of these deficits after recovery, or their relationship to comorbid psychiatric symptoms. Method Women aged 19–45 remitted from AN (RAN, N = 47) and controls (CW, N = 24) completed the Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System Color‐Word Interference Test. It was hypothesized that RAN, and those with higher anxiety or depression, would demonstrate worse Inhibition and Switching task performance than CW. Results Differences in performance between groups trended toward significance on Inhibition Ratio ( p = 0.08) but were nonsignificant on Inhibition/Switching Ratio ( p = 0.93). A model including State Anxiety and diagnosis revealed a significant independent effect of State Anxiety ( p = 0.026), but not of diagnosis nor their interaction. Regressing State Anxiety on Color‐Word Interference Test Inhibition among just the RAN group was significant [β = 0.37, t (46) = 2.63, p = 0.012] but among just CW was not ( p = 0.54). Discussion Interference control for neutral stimuli is influenced by anxiety in women with a history of AN. Anxiety is linked with greater symptom severity among AN individuals, and state anxiety may account for larger deficits seen on tasks using disorder‐specific stimuli. Future research is warranted to elucidate the nature of neuropsychological deficits in eating disorders. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association