Investigating cognitive factors related to eating disorders

About this study

How we think influences symptoms and our experiences. Cognitive flexibility is the ability to adapt to changes in the environment and/or changing task demands. Difficulties with thinking flexibly have been noted in eating disorders, however, few studies have considered flexible thinking in patients who have partially or fully recovered from anorexia nervosa. Furthermore, there is limited research that has linked cognitive flexibility with other cognitive factors (e.g. perfectionism) in anorexia nervosa. This project is an online study investigating the relationship between various cognitive factors (including cognitive flexibility, rumination, perfectionism, self-efficacy and obsessional beliefs) and anorexia nervosa, a debilitating eating disorder. It is hoped that the results of this study will improve our understanding of the disorder and contribute to treatment development.

Research TeamInvestigators: A/Prof Andrea Phillipou; Dr Stephanie Miles; Phillipa Huynh; Jessica Taffe.
InstitutionUniversity of Melbourne
Websitehttps://swinuw.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3K8b8HkcUtMQaPk
Project Start Date1 January 2024
Project End Date24 September 2024
ParticipantsPeople who can participate include:

- Healthy controls (people without current or prior history of anorexia nervosa)
- People with a current diagnosis of anorexia
- People who are weight restored or fully recovered from anorexia
What is InvolvedIf you agree to participate, you will be asked to complete the study online at your own convenience. You will be asked to complete a demographic questionnaire that covers basic demographic information and a brief medical history. Following this, you will be asked to complete a range of questionnaires that cover topics such as eating behaviours, body image, mental health, perfectionism and cognitive flexibility.

You will also complete two short, simple neuropsychological tasks on your computer or smartphone. These tasks will involve you matching cards and using the cursor to draw a line between letters and numbers. To complete the tasks, you will be required to download a small file onto your computer or smartphone, which can be deleted after you have completed the study.

The study will take less than one hour to complete.
Contact Details

Isabel.krug@unimelb.edu.au

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