title: How fat will it make me? Estimation of weight gain in anorexia nervosa.
abstract: This study investigates the subjective estimation of weight gain in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) when being confronted with food cues both in a general (self-unrelated) and in an intent-to-eat (self-related) condition. Looking at the presentation of different snack pictures with different nutrition values (high-low calories), AN patients (N = 24) and age-matched healthy women (N = 27) estimated the weight gain when they imagined eating the presented portions of snack pictures once a day in addition to the normal daily nutrition in the following two conditions: 1) a general condition without specific additional instruction, 2) an intent-to-eat condition, in which they were instructed to imagine that they would eat the snack themselves. Compared to healthy women, patients with AN estimated a higher weight gain only in the intent-to-eat condition, i.e. when they imagined eating the snacks themselves, but not in the general, not self-related condition. In the patient group, mean estimations of weight gain were associated with the "drive for thinness". This study suggests cognitive abnormalities related to the effects of food intake on the weight gain in AN, and that these cognitive anomalies could be related to the fear of gaining weight, one central symptom of AN. It appears that the self-reflective disturbed cognition, rather than the general cognition, could be the main driver underlying anorexia and that the overestimation of the energetic content of food is related to the drive for thinness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: gabriella.milos@usz.ch.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Milos
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Baur
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kuenzli
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schnyder
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mueller-Pfeiffer
authors.affiliation: Unit of Clinical and Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martin-Soelch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003073:Cognitive Dissonance; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003463:Cues; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D050177:Overweight / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D064788:Serving Size; D062410:Snacks / Q000523:psychology; D013557:Switzerland; D013851:Thinness / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D015430:Weight Gain; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anorexia nervosa; Eating Disorders; Eating behavior; Gaining weight; Nutrition value; Psychopathology