Abstract
Background: Disordered eating has been theorised to function as a maladaptive way of coping with negative affect. The current study aimed to comprehensively assess emotional responding and distress tolerance to a cognitive and a physical distress tolerance task using physiological (heart rate), self-report and behavioural measures (latency to quit task). Methods: 56 women at high vs. 58 at low eating disorder risk completed the “Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task-Computerised” (PASAT-C) and the “Breath-holding Task” (BHT) and provided their affective ratings upon completion of the tasks. Heart rate was recorded during both tasks. Distress tolerance was assessed via a self-report measure, while latency to quit each task was used as a behavioural index of distress tolerance. Results: Participants at high risk for eating disorders had higher heart rate during both tasks and reported significantly more unpleasantness and less control after the PASAT-C compared to the lowrisk group. Shorter latency to quit the PASAT-C was evidenced in the high vs. low-risk group suggesting lower tolerance for cognitive distress. Breath-holding duration did not differ between the two groups. Conclusions: Greater physiological and subjective arousal to distressing situations in high-risk individuals indicates a potential hypersensitivity to negative affect, possibly increasing eating disorder vulnerability. Potential implications for eating disorder prevention and management are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-25 |
Number of pages | 25 |
Journal | Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Keywords
- BHT
- Clinical Psychology
- Distress tolerance
- Eating disorder risk
- Emotional responding
- PASAT-C