Research Seminar

The role of alexithymia in emotional functioning associated with eating disorders


Renáta Cserjési


University of Pécs and UC Louvain

Abstract: Alexithymia refers to a specific disturbance in emotional processing and it is the word to describe a constellation of difficulties to identify feelings, distinguish between bodily sensations of emotional arousal and describe feelings to others (Taylor et al. 1997). Eating disorders are associated with affective disorders and specific deficits in emotional functioning (Zonnevijlle-Bendek et al. 2002). Using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS20), a higher prevalence of alexithymia was found in anorexic and binge eater populations than among substance abusers, chronic diseased and general psychiatric out-patient populations (Bourke et al. 1992). However, alexithymia in eating disorders could be a state due to depression and anxiety (Eizaguir et al., 2004). It has been shown that alexithymia has a moderating effect on emotional information processing on an implicit level, which cannot be explained by mood or negative affectivity (Vermeulen et al., 2006). In the current research, we are interested in how alexithymia might relate to emotional information processing on implicit and explicit levels in associations with eating disorders. Using an affective priming paradigm, schematic faces expressing different emotions (happiness, sadness, anger) were presented subliminally in order to evaluate emotional information processing on an implicit level. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale was used to assess alexithymia, and other self-reported questionnaires such as the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Eating Disorder Inventory-I and the Beck Depression Inventory-II to measure attitudes and moods explicitly. In the presentation, the results of 35 female patients with restrictive anorexia nervosa, 30 female patients with severe obesity comparable in terms of age, educational and social level, and matched controls will be discussed.

References:
1. Taylor GJ, Bagby MR, Parker JDA: Disorders of affect regulation: alexithymia in medical and psychiatric illness. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
2. Zonnevijlle-Bendek, M. J. S., van Goozen, S. H. M., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., van Elburg, A., van Engeland, H. (2002) Do adolescent anorexia nervosa patients have deficits in emotional functioning? European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Vol 11, number1 38-42.
3. Bourke PM, Taylor GJ, Parker JDA, Bagby RM: Alexithymia in Women with Anorexia Nervosa. A preliminary investigation. British J. Psychiatry 1992; 161: 240-243.
4. Eizaguir AE, de Cabezoi AOS, de Alda IO, Olariaga LJ, Juaniz M: Alexithymia and its relationships with anxiety and depression in eating disorders. Personality and Individual Differences 2004; 36: 321-331.
5. Vermeulen N, Luminet O, Corneille O: Alexithymia and the automatic processing of affective information. Evidence from an affective priming paradigm. Cognition & Emotion 2006; 20: 64-91.
Date: Tue Sep 25, 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm
Place: room 00.60 (Department of Psychology, Tiensestraat 102, 3000 Leuven)