Emotional Responses to Food Pictures according to Caloric Value in Women with an Eating Disorder

Caroline Gagnon,Marie-Ève Labonté,Simon Grondin,Marilou Côté

doi:10.31579/2637-8892/140

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the current study was to improve the understanding of emotions evoked by food pictures in women with an eating disorder (ED), by distinguishing anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) diagnoses, while taking into account the caloric content of food and the influence of participants’ nutritional knowledge. Methods: Thirteen AN, 9 BN and 22 healthy controls (HC) women participated in the study. In a laboratory setting, participants first completed self-report questionnaires regarding their affective state. Then, an emotional rating task of food and non-food pictures was performed in order to examine participants’ emotional reactions to these pictures, depending on the caloric value of the food depicted and controlling for internal state. Finally, an energy density ranking task of food pictures was completed to investigate participants’ nutritional knowledge and its influence on their reactions to food. Results: Compared to HC, ED participants experienced more fear towards food, which was neither due to their internal state nor to their nutritional knowledge. In AN, fear occurred towards all food, whereas in BN, fear was observed for high-calorie products only. Conclusion: The key role of food-induced fear in ED was highlighted, particularly in AN.

Highlights

Eating behaviors are known to be influenced by affective states (AguiarBloemer & Diez-Garcia, 2018; Devenport et al, 2019; Macht & Simons, 2000; van Strien et al, 2013)
This study demonstrated that eating disorder (ED) women experienced a high level of fear towards food pictures, which was neither due to their level of hungriness nor to their affective comorbid state
This fear response appeared to be specific to food, because no difference between participants’ emotional responses was noticed for object pictures

Summary

Introduction

Eating behaviors are known to be influenced by affective states (AguiarBloemer & Diez-Garcia, 2018; Devenport et al, 2019; Macht & Simons, 2000; van Strien et al, 2013). Positive emotions evoked by food can drive eating behaviors such as disinhibition or craving, whereas negative emotions can lead to its rejection or avoidance (Macht, 2008). ED women present altered information processing mechanisms and erroneous thoughts about food and body weight/shape, which modulate negatively their emotional responses towards food and, their caloric intake (Brooks et al, 2011; Coelho et al, 2014; Eiber et al, 2005; Williamson et al, 1999). In order to better understand ED women’s eating behaviors and improve the efficacy of their treatments, it is important to pursue the exploration of emotional responses evoked by food

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion