“Glass fairies” and “bone children”: Adolescents and young adults with anorexia nervosa show positive reactions towards extremely emaciated body pictures measured by the startle reflex paradigm
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Media type:
E-Article
Title:
“Glass fairies” and “bone children”: Adolescents and young adults with anorexia nervosa show positive reactions towards extremely emaciated body pictures measured by the startle reflex paradigm
Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>In this study, we investigated the emotional processing of extremely emaciated body cues in adolescents and young adults with (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 36) and without (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 36) anorexia nervosa (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AN</jats:styled-content>), introducing a new picture type, which was taken from websites that promote extreme thinness and is targeted specifically at adolescents interested in extreme thinness. A startle reflex paradigm was used for implicit reactions, while a self‐assessment instrument was used for subjective responses. We found a significant group difference with a startle inhibition (appetitive response) among the patients and a startle potentiation (aversive response) among the controls, whereas no such difference for subjective measures was found. The results are in contrast to previous studies, which proposed a general failure to activate the appetitive motivational system in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AN</jats:styled-content>, but in keeping with findings from other addictions, where the same response pattern has been found. Implications for prevention and therapy are discussed.</jats:p>