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Contribution of executive functions to eating behaviours in obesity and eating disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2020

Mara Segura-Serralta ,
Sonia Ciscar ,
Lorena Blasco ,
Javier Oltra-Cucarella ,
María Roncero ,
Raúl Espert ,
Vicente Elvira ,
Rosa Pinedo-Esteban  and
Conxa Perpiñá
Mara Segura-Serralta
Affiliation:
University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Sonia Ciscar
Affiliation:
Hospital de la Ribera, Alzira, Valencia, Spain
Lorena Blasco
Affiliation:
Hospital de la Ribera, Alzira, Valencia, Spain
Javier Oltra-Cucarella
Affiliation:
University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
María Roncero*
Affiliation:
University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Raúl Espert
Affiliation:
University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Vicente Elvira
Affiliation:
Hospital Universitario de Sant Joan D’Alacant, Alacant, Spain
Rosa Pinedo-Esteban
Affiliation:
Hospital Universitario de Sant Joan D’Alacant, Alacant, Spain
Conxa Perpiñá
Affiliation:
University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Background:

Patients with eating disorders (ED) or obesity show difficulties in tasks assessing decision-making, set-shifting abilities and central coherence.

Aims:

The aim of this study was to explore executive functions in eating and weight-related problems, ranging from restricting types of ED to obesity.

Method:

Two hundred and eighty-eight female participants (75 with obesity; 149 with ED: 76 with restrictive eating, 73 with bingeing-purging symptoms; and 64 healthy controls) were administered the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Iowa Gambling Task, and the Group Embedded Figures Test to assess set-shifting, decision-making and central coherence, respectively.

Results:

Participants with either obesity or ED performed poorly on tests measuring executive functioning compared with healthy controls, even after controlling for age and intelligence. Both participants with obesity and participants with ED showed a preference for global information processing.

Conclusions:

The findings suggest that treatments for obesity and ED would benefit from addressing difficulties in cognitive functioning, in addition to the more evident clinical symptoms related to eating, body weight and shape.

Keywords

central coherencedecision-makingeating disordersexecutive functionsobesityset-shifting
Type
Main
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 48 , Issue 6 , November 2020 , pp. 725 - 733
Copyright
© British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2020

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