Decision-making impairments in women with binge eating disorder.
Even though eating is frequently driven by overindulgence and reward rather than by energy balance, few studies so far have analyzed decision-making processes and disturbances in feedback processing in women with binge eating disorder (BED). In an experimental study, 17 women with BED (DSM-IV) and 18 overweight healthy controls (HC) were compared in the game of dice task (GDT). This task assesses decision-making under risk with explicit rules for gains and losses. Additionally, differences in dispositional activation of the behavior inhibition and behavior approach system as well as cognitive flexibility were measured. Main results revealed that women with BED make risky decisions significantly more often than HC. Moreover, they show impaired capacities to advantageously utilize feedback processing. Even though these deficits were not related to disease-specific variables, they may be important for the daily decision-making behavior of women with BED, thus being relevant as a maintenance factor for the disorder.
Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg, Engelbergerstrasse 41, 79106 Freiburg, Germany. jennifer.svaldi@psychologie.uni-freiburg.de
Jennifer
J
Svaldi
Matthias
M
Brand
Brunna
B
Tuschen-Caffier
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D003657:Decision Making; D056228:Feedback, Sensory; D005260:Female; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis