TY - JOUR
T1 - Testing the specificity of interpretation biases in women with eating disorder symptoms: An online experimental assessment
AU - Korn, Julia
AU - Dietel, Fanny A.
AU - Hartmann, Andrea S.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Isabell Eurich for her great assistance in conducting the study. The study was funded by internal funding.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors. International Journal of Eating Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/3/1
Y1 - 2020/3/1
N2 - Objective: Cognitive biases, such as memory, attention, and interpretation bias, are thought to play a central role in the development and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the interpretation bias is ED-specific or can be generalized to comorbid disorder-related threats in women with high levels of ED symptoms. Method: In an online study, we measured interpretation bias using the modified Sentence Word Association Paradigm (SWAP), comparing women with (n = 39) and without (sub)threshold eating disorders (n = 56). We assessed endorsement and rejection rates as well as reaction times in response to a positive/neutral or a negative ED-specific, social anxiety-specific (SAD), or generalized anxiety-specific (GAD) interpretive word following an ambiguous sentence. Results: In ambiguous situations, women with high ED symptoms selected more negative (p <.001) and fewer positive/neutral ED-related interpretations (p <.001). Negative interpretations were endorsed significantly faster (p <.001), while positive interpretations were rejected faster in this group (p <.001). These women also manifested negative SAD-specific interpretation bias patterns in reaction time measures. Nevertheless, ED severity was best predicted by the endorsement of negative ED-specific stimuli, whereas ED and SAD reaction time measures seemed to have a negligible effect. Discussion: The results indicate that the interpretation bias might be ED-specific. The SWAP can be a useful tool for the further investigation of the etiological relevance of the interpretation bias as well as for the development of modification training interventions.
AB - Objective: Cognitive biases, such as memory, attention, and interpretation bias, are thought to play a central role in the development and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the interpretation bias is ED-specific or can be generalized to comorbid disorder-related threats in women with high levels of ED symptoms. Method: In an online study, we measured interpretation bias using the modified Sentence Word Association Paradigm (SWAP), comparing women with (n = 39) and without (sub)threshold eating disorders (n = 56). We assessed endorsement and rejection rates as well as reaction times in response to a positive/neutral or a negative ED-specific, social anxiety-specific (SAD), or generalized anxiety-specific (GAD) interpretive word following an ambiguous sentence. Results: In ambiguous situations, women with high ED symptoms selected more negative (p <.001) and fewer positive/neutral ED-related interpretations (p <.001). Negative interpretations were endorsed significantly faster (p <.001), while positive interpretations were rejected faster in this group (p <.001). These women also manifested negative SAD-specific interpretation bias patterns in reaction time measures. Nevertheless, ED severity was best predicted by the endorsement of negative ED-specific stimuli, whereas ED and SAD reaction time measures seemed to have a negligible effect. Discussion: The results indicate that the interpretation bias might be ED-specific. The SWAP can be a useful tool for the further investigation of the etiological relevance of the interpretation bias as well as for the development of modification training interventions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075468410&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/eat.23201
DO - 10.1002/eat.23201
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 31750564
AN - SCOPUS:85075468410
SN - 0276-3478
VL - 53
SP - 372
EP - 382
JO - International Journal of Eating Disorders
JF - International Journal of Eating Disorders
IS - 3
ER -