Bulimic psychopathology and attentional biases to ego threats among non-eating-disordered women.

Abstract

It has been proposed that bulimic psychopathology is associated with responsiveness to ego threats, rather than to physical threat. However, the concept of ego threat is a heterogeneous one, and needs to be more clearly defined. This study examined the relationship between bulimic attitudes and attentional biases to different forms of threat. The participants were 80 non-eating-disordered women, drawn from school and University populations. Each woman completed a Stroop task, measuring attentional biases toward five different forms of threat. Their times to complete these tasks were associated with scores on the Eating Disorders Inventory. Bulimic (but not restrictive) attitudes were specifically associated with an attentional bias toward ego threats that are self-directed, rather than with ego threats that are perceived to come from others. It is suggested that there is a complex relationship between attention to self-directed ego threats, poor self-esteem (ineffectiveness), and bulimic psychopathology, although the causal structure of the relationship remains to be established. The results require replication with an eating-disordered sample.