Matilde Elices1, Cristina Carmona1, Vanessa Narváez2, Victoria Seto3, Ana Martin-Blanco1, Juan C Pascual4, José Soriano1, Joaquim Soler5. 1. Department of Psychiatry, Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica-Sant Pau (IIB-SANT PAU), Spain. 2. Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Universitari Mútua Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain. 3. Department of Psychiatry, Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain. 4. Department of Psychiatry, Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica-Sant Pau (IIB-SANT PAU), Spain; Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain. 5. Department of Psychiatry, Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica-Sant Pau (IIB-SANT PAU), Spain; Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: jsolerri@santpau.cat.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To compare individuals with eating disorders (EDs) to healthy controls (HCs) to assess for differences in direct engagement in the eating process. METHOD: Participants (n=58) were asked to eat an orange slice. To assess the degree of direct engagement with the eating process, participants were asked to write down 10 thoughts about the experience of eating the orange slice. Next, the participants were instructed to classify the main focus of each thought as either experiential ("direct experience") or analytical ("thinking about"). A direct experience index (DEI) was computed by dividing the number of times that participants classified an experience as a "direct experience" (the numerator) by the total number of all observations (i.e., direct experience+thinking about). Participants also completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Experiences Questionnaire (EQ) to assess mindfulness facets and decentering, respectively. RESULTS: Compared to controls, participants in the EDs group presented significantly lower levels of direct experience during the eating task (EDs group: mean=43.54, SD=29.64; HCs group: mean=66.17, SD=22.23, p=0.03). Participants in the EDs group also scored significantly lower on other mindfulness-related variables. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that engagement with the direct experience of eating is lower in individuals with EDs. Future research should investigate the role of mindfulness-based interventions to address direct experience while eating in individuals with EDs.
OBJECTIVE: To compare individuals with eating disorders (EDs) to healthy controls (HCs) to assess for differences in direct engagement in the eating process. METHOD:Participants (n=58) were asked to eat an orange slice. To assess the degree of direct engagement with the eating process, participants were asked to write down 10 thoughts about the experience of eating the orange slice. Next, the participants were instructed to classify the main focus of each thought as either experiential ("direct experience") or analytical ("thinking about"). A direct experience index (DEI) was computed by dividing the number of times that participants classified an experience as a "direct experience" (the numerator) by the total number of all observations (i.e., direct experience+thinking about). Participants also completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Experiences Questionnaire (EQ) to assess mindfulness facets and decentering, respectively. RESULTS: Compared to controls, participants in the EDs group presented significantly lower levels of direct experience during the eating task (EDs group: mean=43.54, SD=29.64; HCs group: mean=66.17, SD=22.23, p=0.03). Participants in the EDs group also scored significantly lower on other mindfulness-related variables. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that engagement with the direct experience of eating is lower in individuals with EDs. Future research should investigate the role of mindfulness-based interventions to address direct experience while eating in individuals with EDs.
Authors: Ana Hernando; Raquel Pallás; Ausiàs Cebolla; Javier García-Campayo; Claire J Hoogendoorn; Juan Francisco Roy Journal: PLoS One Date: 2019-03-15 Impact factor: 3.240