Attentional bias in eating disorders: A meta-review

Stott, Natalie, Fox, John RE ORCID: 0000-0003-3039-8024 and Williams, Marc O (2021) Attentional bias in eating disorders: A meta-review. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EATING DISORDERS, 54 (8). pp. 1377-1399.

Access the full-text of this item by clicking on the Open Access link.

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eat.23560

Abstract

<h4>Objective</h4>This meta-review summarizes and synthesizes the most reliable findings regarding attentional bias in eating disorders across paradigms and stimulus types and considers implications for theory and future research.<h4>Method</h4>Four databases were systematically searched, along with reference lists of included reviews, yielding 15 systematic reviews (four of which were also meta-analyses). The quality of each review was appraised using the AMSTAR-2.<h4>Results</h4>Key findings from systematic reviews are summarized, organized by paradigm and stimulus type.<h4>Discussion</h4>The authors synthesize evidence from the highest-quality studies. There is evidence for attentional avoidance and vigilance in eating disorders depending on stimulus properties (low vs. high-calorie food; high-body mass vs. low-body mass index photos of others) and attentional avoidance of food stimuli in those with anorexia nervosa. Sad mood induction may generate attentional bias for food in those with binge-eating disorder. There may also be attentional bias to general threat in eating disorder samples. This meta-review concludes that most systematic reviews in this field are low in quality and summarizes the main areas that could be improved upon in future reviews. Implications of this study's findings for theory and intervention research are also discussed.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	anorexia nervosa, attentional bias, binge-eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, dot probe task, eating disorders, eye-tracking, meta-review, Stroop, systematic review
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	30 Jan 2023 17:05
Last Modified:	30 Jan 2023 17:05
DOI:	10.1002/eat.23560
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23560
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3167965