Abstract
Objective To investigate whether binge-eating in patients with eating disorders (EDs) is associated with attentional deficits. Methods We studied ED patients with binge-eating (n = 51), no binge-eating (n = 59) and controls (n = 58). ED patients were assessed following the stabilization of weight and ED pathology. Attention assessment included evaluation of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis, the Adult ADHD Self-Report (ASRS) and ADHD Rating Scale-IV-Home Version (ADHD-RS) questionnaires, and attention functioning assessed with neuropsychological tools. The severity of eating-related pathology, depression, anxiety and obsessionality was also monitored. Results Patients with binge-eating showed more ADHD symptomatology on the ADHD-RS compared with non-binge-eating patients. No differences were found between binge-eating and non-binge-eating patients in ADHD diagnosis and neuropsychological functioning. Among the specific ED subtypes, patients with anorexia nervosa binge/purge type (AN-B/P) showed the highest rates of ADHD symptomatology on the ADHD-RS, and were characterized with sustained attention deficits. Conclusion Binge-eating is not associated with attention deficits as measured by objective neuropsychological tools. Nonetheless, it is associated with attentional difficulties as measured with the self-reported ADHD-RS. AN-B/P patients are the only ED category showing objective sustained attention deficits.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e0215506 |
| Journal | PLoS ONE |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2019 Halevy-Yosef et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.