Rumination but not distraction increases eating-related symptoms in anorexia and bulimia nervosa

Abstract

Recent models of eating disorders emphasize the importance of ruminative thinking in the occurrence of unhealthy eating behavior. Hence, the aim of the current study was to examine the influence of induced rumination and distraction on the desire to engage in eating-related symptoms in anorexia (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). After a sadness induction, either a ruminative or distractive emotion regulation style was encouraged in women with AN (n = 38), BN (n = 37), and non-eating disordered controls (CG; n = 36). At baseline and after the emotion regulation induction feelings of sadness, desire to abstain from eating (DTA) and desire to binge (DTB) were assessed. Main results reveal that rumination led to a significant increase of DTA in the AN group and of DTB in patients with BN. In the CG, DTA significantly decreased after distraction. Although there were significant increases in subjective sadness in the rumination condition, no changes were found in the distraction condition. The results suggest that rumination in response to sadness has a detrimental effect on eating-related symptoms in eating disorders.