title: Set-shifting among adolescents with bulimic spectrum eating disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Set-shifting difficulties are observed among adults with bulimia nervosa (BN). This study aimed to assess whether adolescents with BN and BN spectrum eating disorders exhibit set-shifting problems relative to healthy controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Neurocognitive data from 23 adolescents with BN were compared with those from 31 adolescents with BN-type eating disorder not otherwise specified and 22 healthy controls on various measures of set-shifting (Trail Making Task [shift task], Color-Word Interference, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and Brixton Spatial Anticipation Task).
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences in set-shifting tasks were found among groups (p >.35), and effect sizes were small (Cohen f < 0.17).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cognitive inflexibility may develop over time because of the eating disorder, although it is possible that there is a subset of individuals in whom early neurocognitive difficulty may result in a longer illness trajectory. Future research should investigate the existence of neurocognitive taxons in larger samples and use longitudinal designs to fully explore biomarkers and illness effects.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  clinicaltrials.gov NCT00879151.
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA 94305, USA. adarcy@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Alison M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Darcy
authors.forename: Kathleen Kara
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Fitzpatrick
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Colborn
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manasse
authors.forename: Nandini
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Datta
authors.forename: Vandana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Aspen
authors.forename: Colleen Stiles
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Shields
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Le Grange
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lock
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000150:complications*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012718:Set, Psychology