Anorexia Nervosa
Conditions
Keywords
Eating Disorders, Anorexia Nervosa, Attention bias, Attention bias modification
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to test the therapeutic effects of a computerized attention training for patients with Anorexia Nervosa (AN). The primary aim is to determine if a computerized attention training can modify attention towards food and ameliorate eating disorder symptoms and related difficulties, such as anxiety. The secondary aim is to explore underlying mechanisms that contribute to these improvements. The stability of potentially observed effects over a one-month period will also be determined.
Detailed description
Recently, attention bias modification (ABM) has successfully been applied in the field of anxiety disorders and emerging evidence suggests that attention bias modification can ameliorate attention bias for threatening stimuli. ABM is based on the premise that if biased attention maintains disorder symptoms, a modification of the bias should reduce symptoms. The advantage of ABM is that it operates implicitly, thereby offering a more indirect, less deliberate procedure. This requires less cognitive control compared to the effortful and explicit psychotherapeutic treatment of cognitive biases. As food-related fears and avoidance in AN patients have been recognized as important anxiety-related symptoms, ABM seems particularly suitable to treat food-related fears and avoidance, especially because AN patients might be unaware of their avoidance strategy. The aim of this study is to test if food-related fears and food avoidance can be changed by experimentally modifying attention towards food in Anorexia Nervosa patients using an innovative computerized training paradigm (computerized attention training - CAT) and to evaluate related change in symptoms. The investigators hypothesize that the active CAT will change attentional processing of food cues (research aim 1), transfer to changes in food-related fears and food avoidance, and to improvements in AN symptoms and weight in the short term (research aim 2) and longer term (research aim 3).
Interventions
BEHAVIORALComputerized attention training (CAT)
Three sessions of active computerized attention training.
BEHAVIORALSham computerized attention training (control condition)
Three sessions of sham computerized attention training.
Sponsors
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
King's College London
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* BMI \< 18.5 5 kg/m2 * Current diagnosis of AN-restricting type, AN-Binge/purging type or Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) - Anorexia type * Fluent in English
Exclusion criteria
* Currently taking a dose of any psychoactive medication that has not been stable for at least 14 days prior to participation in the study * Currently meeting the diagnostic criteria of another major psychiatric disorder (e.g., major depressive disorder, substance dependence, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder) needing treatment in its own right * Learning and developmental impairments * If the disorder is currently life threatening * If patients are currently suicidal * If patients are currently having extreme physiological complications or co-morbid alcohol and drug-abuse disorders
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Attention bias | max. 2 weeks (pre and post attention bias modification training) | The dot-probe task with concurrent assessment of eye-movements will be used for the assessment of attention bias at baseline and post-treatment. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Eating Disorder symptoms | max. 2 week (pre and post attention bias modification training) and at 4 weeks follow-up | The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q, Fairburn & Belgin, 1994) is a commonly used index for AN symptoms and will be assessed at baseline and post-treatment and at 4 weeks follow-up. |
| Body Mass Index | max. 2 (pre and post attention bias modification training) and after 4 weeks (follow-up). | Weight and height will be assessed to calculate BMI and assess whether BMI changes occurred during the study period due to CAT |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Eating Behaviour | max. 2 weeks | Participants will be instructed to taste from different food options and their willingness to do so and their actual intake will be assessed as measure for behavioural food avoidance at baseline and at post-treatment. |
| Approach and avoidance tendencies | max. 2 weeks | Approach and avoidance tendencies for food pictures will be assessed with the Affective Simon Task (AST, see Neimeijer, de Jong, & Roefs, 2015) at baseline and at post-training to test changes in food-related approach or avoidance. |
Countries
United Kingdom
Contacts
Primary ContactJessica Werthmann, PhD
Backup ContactUlrike Schmidt, PhD
Outcome results
None listed