title: Inhibitory control in bulimic-type eating disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: The aim of this meta-analysis was to summarise data from neuropsychological studies on inhibitory control to general and disease-salient (i.e., food/eating, body/shape) stimuli in bulimic-type eating disorders (EDs). A systematic literature search was conducted to identify eligible experimental studies. The outcome measures studied included the performance on established inhibitory control tasks in bulimic-type EDs. Effect sizes (Hedges' g) were pooled using random-effects models. For inhibitory control to general stimuli, 24 studies were included with a total of 563 bulimic-type ED patients: 439 had bulimia nervosa (BN), 42 had anorexia nervosa of the binge/purge subtype (AN-b), and 82 had binge eating disorder (BED). With respect to inhibitory control to disease-salient stimuli, 12 studies were included, representing a total of 218 BN patients. A meta-analysis of these studies showed decreased inhibitory control to general stimuli in bulimic-type EDs (g = -0.32). Subgroup analysis revealed impairments with a large effect in the AN-b group (g = -0.91), impairments with a small effect in the BN group (g = -0.26), and a non-significant effect in the BED group (g = -0.16). Greater impairments in inhibitory control were observed in BN patients when confronted with disease-salient stimuli (food/eating: g = -0.67; body/shape: g = -0.61). In conclusion, bulimic-type EDs showed impairments in inhibitory control to general stimuli with a small effect size. There was a significantly larger impairment in inhibitory control to disease salient stimuli observed in BN patients, constituting a medium effect size.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Mudan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Mechthild
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hartmann
authors.affiliation: Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Mandy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skunde
authors.affiliation: Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Herzog
authors.affiliation: Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Christoph
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Friederich
mesh_terms: D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D002032:Bulimia / Q000523:psychology; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests