Selective attentional bias to food-related stimuli in healthy individuals with characteristics towards orthorexia nervosa

Abstract

Purpose It has been argued that orthorexia nervosa (ON) is a unique type of disordered eating of food considered by the individual to be healthy. Given that in other eating disorder populations attentional preference for food-related cues influences eating behaviours, is it also likely that these biases may be a characteristic of ON tendency. Methods Eighty healthy individuals completed the ORTO-15 questionnaire (ON tendency), a modified Stroop task containing words related to healthy and unhealthy foods and perceived hunger levels pre-and post-testing. The ORTO-15 was used to identify participants within this sample who demonstrated more or less of the characteristics of ON. Results Results suggest that the presence of attentional bias to healthy, but not for unhealthy food-related stimuli independently predict increased ON tendency. Increased attentional bias towards healthy food-related stimuli is associated with increased scores on the ORTO-15. Conclusion Attentional bias, as a deficit in information processing, towards healthy food-related stimuli accounts for variability in ON characteristics. Level of evidence Level I, experimental study.

Attitudes towards ‘superfood’ depending on the risk of orthorexia among students in Poland and The Netherlands

“…Similar results were obtained during the observation of university students in Turkey (p = 0.000) [13]. Current results regarding the lack of relationship between the prevalence of orthorexia in women and men confirm other similar studies (p = 0.719, Poland) [11], (p = 0.88, UK) [14]. The average age in the current study group was similar to others conducted among students in Poland [11], Spain [12] and Turkey [13].…”

“…The average age in the current study group was similar to others conducted among students in Poland [11], Spain [12] and Turkey [13]. The lack of relationship between age and risk of orthorexia is confirmed by similar studies in students (p = 0.151) [14]. Also, in the context of the body weight status in relation to the orthorexia nervosa tendency, no significance was demonstrated [13,15,16], including the Polish study [2].…”

Psychological Correlates of Excessive Healthy and Orthorexic Eating: Emotion Regulation, Attachment, and Anxious-Depressive-Stress Symptomatology

“…Studies in eating disorders indicate that negative affect precedes binge and purging episodes but challenge reductions in negative affect after these compensatory behaviors (56,57). Initial experimental studies showing weaknesses in emotional control, cognitive inflexibility and attentional bias toward healthy food (58,59) support this alleviation assumption in OrNe. Studies using mood induction in relation to food cue reactivity are still missing, additional research is thus needed.…”

The inter‐relationship between diet, selflessness, and disordered eating in Australian women

“…These cognitive biases are likely to be activated when individuals are excessively focused on food or avoid certain food groups as seen in vegetarianism or veganism (Stein, 1996). That is, an individual's dietary habits may predispose them to disordered eating behavior, where disordered eating can lead to an increasingly restrictive diet (Albery, Michalska, Moss, & Spada, 2019) or conversely, a restrictive diet can lead to disordered eating (Brytek-Matera, Czepczor-Bernat, Jurzak, Kornacka, & Kołodziejczyk, 2018).…”

“…These cognitive biases are likely to be activated when individuals are excessively focused on food or avoid certain food groups as seen in vegetarianism or veganism (Stein, 1996). That is, an individual's dietary habits may predispose them to disordered eating behavior, where disordered eating can lead to an increasingly restrictive diet (Albery, Michalska, Moss, & Spada, 2019) or conversely, a restrictive diet can lead to disordered eating (Brytek‐Matera, Czepczor‐Bernat, Jurzak, Kornacka, & Kołodziejczyk, 2018). Prior research suggests that a vegetarian or vegan diet may be used by individuals with EDs as a socially justifiable way of restricting their food consumption and controlling their weight, therefore playing a crucial role in disordered eating behavior (Klopp, Heiss, & Smith, 2003; Martins, Pliner, & O'Conner, 1999; Robinson‐O'Brien, Perry, Wall, Story, & Neumark‐Sztainer, 2009; Timko, Hormes, & Chubski, 2012).…”