Impact of Impulsivity and Therapy Response in Eating Disorders from a Neurophysiological, Personality and Cognitive Perspective

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 14; no. 23; p. 5011
• Main Authors: Testa, Giulia, Granero, Roser, Misiolek, Alejandra, Vintró-Alcaraz, Cristina, Mallorqui-Bagué, Núria, Lozano-Madrid, Maria, Heras, Misericordia Veciana De Las, Sánchez, Isabel, Jiménez-Murcia, Susana, Fernández-Aranda, Fernando
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25.11.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Addictions; Anorexia; Behavior therapy; Behavioral health care; Binge eating; Bulimia; Care and treatment; Clinical outcomes; Cognition; Cognitive behavioral therapy; Cognitive therapy; Complications and side effects; Development and progression; Eating disorders; Feeding and Eating Disorders - therapy; Humans; Impulse; Impulsive Behavior - physiology; Impulsivity; Inhibition, Psychological; Likert scale; Neurophysiology; Patient outcomes; Personality; Personality traits; Physiological aspects; Quantitative psychology; Remission (Medicine); Spain; eating disorders; event-related potentials; treatment outcome; inhibitory control; impulsivity traits
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu14235011

Impulsivity, as a multidimensional construct, has been linked to eating disorders (EDs) and may negatively impact treatment response. The study aimed to identify the dimensions of impulsivity predicting poor remission of ED symptoms. A total of 37 ED patients underwent a baseline assessment of impulsive personality traits and inhibitory control, including the Stroop task and the emotional go/no-go task with event-related potentials (ERPs) analysis. The remission of EDs symptomatology was evaluated after 3 months of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and at a 2-year follow-up. Poor remission after CBT was predicted by poor inhibitory control, as measured by the Stroop task. At 2 years, the risk of poor remission was higher in patients with higher novelty seeking, lower inhibitory control in the Stroop and in ERPs indices (N2 amplitudes) during the emotional go/no-go task. The present results highlight inhibitory control negatively impacting both short- and long-term symptomatology remission in ED patients. On the other hand, high novelty seeking and ERPs indices of poor inhibition seem to be more specifically related to long-term remission. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of the impulsivity dimension in patients with ED is recommended to tailor treatments and improve their efficacy.