Cognitive avoidance in the strategic processing of ego threats among eating-disordered patients.
BACKGROUND
This study of strategic processing examined whether it is possible to demonstrate cognitive avoidance of ego threats in women with eating disorders, using a task that involves less automatic identification of threat cues.


METHODS
Fifty eating-disordered (anorexic and bulimic) and 50 comparison women completed a task of strategic processing, assessing their speed of solving neutral, food-related, and ego threat-related anagrams.


RESULTS
Cognitive avoidance of threat-related information was shown, but only among women with bulimic characteristics. The presence of bulimic behaviors (binging and vomiting) was the clearest factor associated with such avoidance. There was no evidence of avoidance of disorder-related (food) cues.


CONCLUSIONS
Research and therapeutic implications are discussed, including the potential utility of therapies that directly or indirectly address the schema-level representation of ego threats when working with eating pathology.
Meyer
Caroline
C
Medical School, University of Warwick, Warwick, United Kingdom.
Serpell
Lucy
L
Waller
Glenn
G
Murphy
Fay
F
Treasure
Janet
J
Leung
Newman
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology*; D002032:Bulimia / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D004532:Ego; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010554:Personality Disorders