Is the Cognitive Disturbance among Subtypes of Eating Disorders the Same? : Investigation from the Cognitive Behavioral Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the cognitive disturbance of eating disorders. Subjects were anorexia nervosa-restricting type(AN-R ; n=52), AN-binge eating purging type(AN-BP ; n=54)bulimia nervosa-purging type(BN-P ; n=39), and normal controls(n=55). As results of one factor ANOVA with Tukey comparison, all subtypes of eating disorders showed higher food preoccupation, more problem avoidance tendency, and more dysfunctional thinking related to diet and weight, and lower selfesteem. However, there were no significant differences between AN-R and normal controls in the scores of variables related to body shape. These cognitive disturbances were most prominent in BN-P, and then AN-BP, AN-R and normal controls. Objective evaluation by three therapists also suggested BN-P and AN-BP showed more severe cognitive dysfunction than AN-R.