Background and objectives

Inferential confusion (IC) entails confusing an imagined possibility with a sensory-based possibility, and acting upon the imagined possibility as if it was real. Although IC was formulated in the context of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), this reasoning bias has shown to be relevant to other obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, such as eating disorders (EDs). The goal of this study was to induce IC experimentally in individuals with EDs relative to healthy controls (HC).

Methods

Thirty-six women (ED group, n = 18; HC group, n = 18) were assigned to one of two experimental conditions: in the High IC condition, participants watched ED-themed videos with key sequences missing – provoking a distrust of the senses and lending more space for the imagination, thus triggering IC. In the Low IC condition, participants watched videos without sequences missing. Participants completed measures of IC, negative affect and compulsive behaviors after watching the videos.

Results

One-way ANOVA indicated that ED participants assigned to the High IC condition reported a greater urge to engage in compulsive behaviors. ED participants also neutralized more after watching the videos and endorsed higher trait IC.

Limitations

There was no clinical control group.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that individuals with EDs display a greater vulnerability to IC, as they are more prone to compulsive behaviors when IC is triggered. This investigation may foster our understanding of the relationship between EDs and OCD through the examination of cognitive factors that are implicated in both disorders.

中文翻译：

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现实检查：饮食失调中推理混淆的实验操作。

背景和目标

推理混淆 (IC) 需要将想象的可能性与基于感官的可能性混淆，并将想象的可能性视为真实的。尽管 IC 是在强迫症 (OCD) 的背景下制定的，但这种推理偏差已证明与其他强迫症谱系障碍有关，例如饮食失调 (ED)。本研究的目的是在与健康对照 (HC) 相关的 ED 个体中通过实验诱导 IC。

方法

36 名女性（ED 组，n  = 18；HC 组，n  = 18）被分配到两个实验条件之一：在高 IC 条件下，参与者观看了缺少关键序列的 ED 主题视频——引发了对感官，为想象提供更多空间，从而触发IC。在低 IC 条件下，参与者观看没有序列丢失的视频。参与者在观看视频后完成了 IC、负面影响和强迫行为的测量。

结果

单向方差分析表明，被分配到高 IC 条件的 ED 参与者报告了更大的参与强迫行为的冲动。ED 参与者在观看视频后也更加中和，并认可更高的特征 IC。

限制

无临床对照组。

结论

这些发现表明，患有 ED 的个体对 IC 表现出更大的脆弱性，因为当 IC 被触发时，他们更容易出现强迫行为。这项调查可能会通过检查与两种疾病有关的认知因素来促进我们对 ED 和 OCD 之间关系的理解。