Role of emotion regulation processes in the organization of autobiographical memories in patients with anorexia

Abstract

A deficit of emotional regulation is now classically described in the development and maintenance of eating disorders [4]. These difficulties in regulating emotional states are characterized by more limited access to emotion regulation strategies but also a predominant use of unsuitable ones such as avoidance, suppression and lack of flexibility (perseveration of emotional states) [1]. We assume that the use of these emotional strategies could lead to specific recall of autobiographical memories and so a specific construction of their life story and their identity. We showed in a first study [3], that the autobiographical memory of anorexic patients is characterized by an overgeneralization mechanism for both positive and negative memories. The use of such a cognitive avoidance strategy modifies the access to autobiographical emotional memories by retrieving positive or negative memories less specifically. Moreover, this impairment is reinforced by illness duration. In a second study [2], we studied the dynamics of emotions in anorexic patients’ autobiographical speech. The temporal pattern of emotional expression was studied in transforming the autobiographical narratives into symbolic sequences of positive, negative, and neutral emotional expressions. The computed dynamic indices showed in patients’ speech a cycle of negative emotions and silence. These results showed specific dynamics of emotional expression in persons with anorexia characterized by the presence of negative emotional perseveration. These changes in the processes of autobiographical memories organization support the hypothesis of changes in the construction of their identity. We present two methods for a psychotherapeutic work on the construction of autobiographical memory. A first one consists in programs stimulating the specific autobiographical memories by using olfactory or visual media, the other is focused on remediation methods seeking to modify the cognitive and emotional flexibility of these patients [5].