RT Journal Article
T1 Executive dysfunction in eating disorders: Relationship with clinical features
A1 Díaz Marsa, Marina Francisca
A1 Pemau Gurumeta, Andrés
A1 De La-Torre Luque, Alejandro Francisco
A1 Vaz Leal, Francisco
A1 Rojo Moreno, Luis
A1 Beato Fernández, Luis
A1 Graell, Montserrat
A1 Carrasco Díaz, Álvaro
A1 Carrasco Perera, José Luis
AB AbstractEating disorders (ED) are severe mental disorders that may result in significant functional impairment and disability. Neuropsychological studies have consistently found impaired executive function (EF) among ED patients. EF is particularly involved in fundamental skills of daily living and in behavioral and emotional regulation. In this study, impairment of executive functioning is investigated in patients with eating disorders and the associations with clinical features and clinical subtypes are analyzed.Method75 female patients (m = 22.01 years, sd = 9.15) with eating disorder (43 restrictive anorexia, 30 binge-eating anorexia and 13 bulimia nervosa) and 37 healthy controls (m = 18.54 years, sd = 4.21) were included in the study. An extensive assessment of executive function domains (verbal fluency, set shifting, attention span, selective attention, working memory, inhibitory control and processing speed) was carried out in both groups. Clinical scales for food intake restriction, binge-eating/purging, depression, anxiety and impulsivity were also administered and correlated with scores on executive function tests.ResultsPatients with an ED had significantly lower scores than healthy controls in performance of several executive function tests, particularly in set shifting, interference control and processing speed (p < .01, in all three domains). Executive function impairment was related to anxious, depressive and eating disorder symptoms (p < .05), regardless of clinical subtype.ConclusionsExecutive function impairment in eating disorders is associated with greater ED symptomatic severity and might involve a negative treatment outcome. Therefore, cognitive remediation techniques should probably be considered in a number of severe patients with ED.
PB Elsevier
SN 0278-5846
YR 2023
FD 2023-01-10
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/131244
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/131244
LA eng
NO Marina Diaz-Marsa, Andres Pemau, Alejandro de la Torre-Luque, Francisco Vaz-Leal, Luis Rojo-Moreno, Luis Beato-Fernandez, Montserrat Graell, Alvaro Carrasco-Diaz, Jose Luis Carrasco, Executive dysfunction in eating disorders: Relationship with clinical features, Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, Volume 120, 2023, 110649, ISSN 0278-5846, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2022.110649.
NO European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) “A Way to Build Europe.”
NO Instituto de Salud Carlos III
NO Unión Europea
DS Docta Complutense
RD 19 mar 2026