Emotion-processing deficits in eating disorders

Objective First, we measured both emotional awareness and alexithymia to understand better emotion‐processing deficits in eating disorder patients (EDs). Second, we increased the reliability of the measures by limiting the influence of confounding factors (negative affects). Method Seventy females w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The International journal of eating disorders 2005-05, Vol.37 (4), p.321-329
Main Authors: Bydlowski, S, Corcos, M, Jeammet, P, Paterniti, S, Berthoz, S, Laurier, C, Chambry, J, Consoli, S.M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Affective Symptoms - diagnosis
Affective Symptoms - psychology
alexithymia
anxiety
behavior disorders
Biological and medical sciences
Case-Control Studies
case-control study
Cognition & reasoning
depression
Eating behavior disorders
Eating disorders
emotion processing
emotional awareness
Emotions
Feeding and Eating Disorders - psychology
Female
Humans
Medical sciences
mental health
Miscellaneous
Multivariate Analysis
Paris
psychological stress
Psychological Tests
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Social Perception
stress management
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:Objective First, we measured both emotional awareness and alexithymia to understand better emotion‐processing deficits in eating disorder patients (EDs). Second, we increased the reliability of the measures by limiting the influence of confounding factors (negative affects). Method Seventy females with eating disorders were compared with 70 female controls. Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; depression), the Hospital and Anxiety Depression scle (HADS; anxiety), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS; alexithymia), and the Level of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS). Results EDs exhibited higher alexithymia scores and lower LEAS scores, with an inability to identify and describe their own emotions, as well as an impairment in mentalizing others' emotional experience. Whereas alexithymia scores were related to depression scores, LEAS scores were not. After controlling for depression, alexithymia scores were similar in EDs and controls. Discussion The marked impairment in emotion processing found in EDs is independent of affective disorders. Thus, the joint use of TAS and LEAS suggests a global emotion‐processing deficit in EDs. © 2005 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN:0276-3478
1098-108X
DOI:10.1002/eat.20132