title: Stimulus-response compatibility tests of implicit preference for food and body image to identify people at risk for disordered eating: a validation study.
abstract: The aim of this study was to incorporate implicit measures of relevant social cognition into eating disorder research. Fifty-three females diagnosed with an eating disorder (ED), and 41 at-risk females were recruited via ED support websites, along with 23 healthy females for comparison. Computerised online tests assessing subconscious normative ideal body image (IBI-BIAT) and personalised self-identification body image (PBI-BIAT) associations and food preferences (FP-AAT) were administered, followed by the modified version of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q). Anthropometric data, age, need for social approval, self-reported measures of self-esteem, normative perception and body image satisfaction were recorded. Self-reported diagnosed ED status was corroborated with BMI and EDE-Q. Diagnostic performance of the implicit measures was assessed with ROC analysis. Those diagnosed with ED showed significantly stronger automatic preferences for and self-identification with thin body image, compared to healthy females, but no differences were found in food preferences. The IBI-BIAT showed better diagnostic power than PBI-BIAT, correctly classifying 87% of the diagnosed participants. No correlation was found between IBI-BIAT and the explicit measures. The results suggest that the underlying subconscious social cognitive factors of pathological eating are linked to body image, not to food items per se.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing, Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 2EE, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Saira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing, Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 2EE, United Kingdom. Electronic address: A.Petroczi@kingston.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petróczi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Approach Avoidance Task; Attitude; Automatic motivation; Eating disorder; Implicit Association Test; Restricted eating