Alexithymia and facial emotion recognition in patients with eating disorders

Kessler, Henrik; Schwarze, M; Filipic, Suzanne; Traue, Harald C.; Wietersheim, J von

doi:10.1002/eat.20228

Cited by 140 publications

(109 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…However, we found but one only difference between patients and HCs in the IRI scores, and we failed to find relevant differences on patients" ability in properly recognizing and interpreting facial emotions and social interactions from the static and dynamic stimuli offered by the FEIT and TASIT, respectively. As for the open questions about the possible relationship between alexithymia and difficulties in recognizing facially displayed emotions (Kessler et al, 2006), our results seem to suggest that these two issues are independent, consistent with the preservation of the meta-emotional abilities, despite high levels of alexithymia, described by Torres and coworkers (2010). On the other hand, the TAS scores suggest that patients with AN might have a specific problem concerning their own emotions.…”

Section: Feit and Tasitsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…The current literature suggests that, compared to healthy individuals, people with AN have deficits in emotion regulation across a variety of domains. Difficulties in recognizing facially displayed emotions have been described, although it is not clear whether these are independent from alexithymia (Kessler, Schwarze, Filipic, Traue, von Wietersheim, 2006), and whether they are influenced by comorbid psychopathological conditions, such as depression (Mendlewicz, Linkowski, Bazelmans, Philippot, 2005;Manuel & Wade, 2013;Parling, Mortavazi, Gadheri, 2010). Apart from difficulties in the recognition of facial emotions, especially negative ones (i.e., sadness and fear), people with AN may show impairments in the recognition of emotions in voices, both positive and negative (particularly happiness and sadness) (Kucharska-Pietura, Nikolau, Masiak, Treasure, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alexithymia, empathy, emotion identification and social inference in anorexia nervosa: A case-control study

et al. 2016

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Alexithymia, difficulties in facial emotion recognition, poor socio-relational skills are typical of Anorexia Nervosa (AN). We assessed patients with AN and healthy controls (HCs) with mixed stimuli: questionnaires (Toronto Alexithymia Scale-TAS, Interpersonal Reactivity Index-IRI), photographs (Facial Emotion Identification Test-FEIT) and dynamic images (The Awareness of Social Inference Test-TASIT). TAS and IRI Personal Distress (PD) were higher in AN than HCs.Few or no differences emerged at the FEIT and TASIT, respectively. Despite higher levels of alexithymia, patients with AN seem to properly acknowledge others' emotions while being inhibited in the expression of their own.

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Section: Feit and Tasitsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alexithymia, empathy, emotion identification and social inference in anorexia nervosa: A case-control study

et al. 2016

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“…These results are consistent with our hypothesis where we expected to find higher levels of psychopathology in patient groups. It also corroborates other results in the literature regarding the close association between EDs and symptomology and psychopathological comorbidity (Garfinkel et al, 1995;Kessler, Schwarze, Filipic, & von Wietersheim, 2006, Piran et al, 1985.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Análisis de la psicopatología familiar como una herramienta terapéutica en los Trastornos de la Conducta Alimentaria.

et al. 2017

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Título: Análisis de la psicopatología familiar como herramienta terapéutica. Resumen: El objetivo de este estudio es averiguar el grado de psicopatología que presentan los pacientes con un Trastorno de la Conducta Alimentaria (TCA) y en qué grado está acompañado por la presencia de psicopatología en madres y padres de los pacientes. Se seleccionaron tres grupos de 30 pacientes cada uno con Anorexia Nerviosa, Bulimia Nerviosa y TCA No especificado y un grupo control (y sus madres y padres). Se aplicó un cuestionario socio-demográfico y la escala SCL-90-R que mide nueve dimensiones de psicopatología de pacientes, madres y padres, en los cuatro grupos. El análisis de datos se realizó con una ANOVA de dos factores con medidas parcialmente repetidas en cada subescala de la SCL-90-R. Las comparaciones múltiples entre los grupos dentro de cada medida repetida se realizaron con la prueba de Sidak. Los pacientes de los tres grupos clínicos obtuvieron diferencias significativas en todas las variables psicopatológicas frente al grupo control, menos en ansiedad fóbica. Este cuadro clínico fue acompañado por cierto grado de psicopatología de las madres pero no de los padres. La presencia de altos niveles de psicopatología en los tres grupos de pacientes y en las madres tiene implicaciones terapéuticas que marcan la necesidad de la intervención psicológica en las pacientes y en sus madres. Palabras clave: Psicopatología; trastornos conducta alimentaria; familia; SCL-90-R. Abstract:The objective of this study is to find out the degree of psychopathology which patients with an eating disorder present (ED) and to which degree this is accompanied by the presence of psychopathology in mothers and fathers of patients. Three groups of patients with Anorexia Nervosa (AN), Bulimia Nervosa (BN), and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) and a control group were selected. Each group had 30 participants (and mothers and fathers). A socio-demographic questionnaire and the SCL-90-R were applied. This scale measured nine dimensions of psychopathology in patients, mothers and fathers. An ANOVA of partially repeated measures with two factors was applied to each dimension of SCL-90-R. Multiple comparisons between groups within each of the repeated measures were carried out with Sidak test. Patients in three clinical groups obtained significant differences in all psychopathological variables compared with the control group, except in phobic anxiety. These clinical results were accompanied by some degree of psychopathology in mothers but not fathers. The presence of high levels of psychopathology in the three groups of patients and mothers has therapeutic implications that indicate the need for psychological intervention in patients and their mothers.

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“…Previous behavioural studies have also reported no effects in AN patients for emotion recognition. 41 Event-related potentials may provide a more sensitive and direct measure of the neural basis of emotion deficits than measures that capture behavioural output. It is possible that the less neural reactivity seen in the ERPs is associated with the high levels of self-reported mood symptoms in AN patients.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotion brain alterations in anorexia nervosa: a candidate biological marker and implications for treatment

Hatch

Madden²,

Kohn³

et al. 2010

jpn

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267Background: Identification of the biological markers of anorexia nervosa (AN) is crucial for the development of new treatments. We aimed to determine whether AN is associated with disturbances in the nonconscious neural processing of innate signals of emotion and whether these disturbances persist after weight gain. Methods: In a retest design, 28 adolescent females with AN were tested at first admission to hospital and again after they had gained weight. Matched healthy control participants were tested at the same times. We assessed emotion-elicited event-related potentials (ERPs) during overt and covert presentation of emotion expressions, scores on an emotion-identification behavioural task, and symptom measures. We performed between and within group analyses. Results: Individuals with AN had a marked alteration in ERPs relative to healthy controls. Irrespective of the form of stimulus, early and late ERP components were significantly reduced in AN patients at baseline (when underweight) and on retest (after weight gain), especially in the temporo-occipital regions, suggesting a persistent disruption of the early automatic appraisal of salient emotional signals. Limitations: This study could have been improved with a longer standardized retest interval. Conclusion: There is likely a core, generic disturbance in AN in the early "automatic" neural processing of emotion irrespective of weight or nutritional status. New innovative emotion-based psychologic or pharmacologic treatments targeting these nonconscious processes may prove beneficial.

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Alexithymia and facial emotion recognition in patients with eating disorders

Abstract: We suggest that the reported alexithymia of patients with eating disorders is complex and independent from basic facial emotion recognition.

Cited by 140 publications

References 29 publications

Alexithymia, empathy, emotion identification and social inference in anorexia nervosa: A case-control study

Alexithymia, empathy, emotion identification and social inference in anorexia nervosa: A case-control study

Análisis de la psicopatología familiar como una herramienta terapéutica en los Trastornos de la Conducta Alimentaria.

Emotion brain alterations in anorexia nervosa: a candidate biological marker and implications for treatment

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