Affect consciousness and eating disorders. Short term stability and subgroup characteristics

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyse differences in observer rated affect consciousness (AC) between subgroups of patients diagnosed with eating disorders (N = 44; 30 with anorexia nervosa and 14 with bulimia nervosa), and a non‐clinical group (N = 40). Another aim was to study the short‐term stability of AC over 10–11 weeks of treatment and its relation to self‐reported eating pathology and general psychopathology. A moderate short‐term stability of AC was found but the levels were not correlated with eating pathology or psychopathology. No differences between the two diagnostic categories were found, but the eating disorder group as whole had significantly lower AC compared with a non‐eating disorder reference group. AC seems to be a moderately stable ability that differentiates patients diagnosed with eating disorders from a non‐clinical population. However, AC is not related to symptoms of eating disorder or general psychiatric symptoms in this group of patients. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.