Relationship Between Eating Disorders And Depression

Ashley Fleming
304583993
Those who suffer from depression perceive events as negative. They have a negative interpretation bias. When faced with a neutral stimulus they perceive it as negative, rather than positive like non-depressed individuals. They also tend to remember memories with negative connotations as being more prominent, which is negative memory bias. Individuals with anxiety have the same perception of events, thinking neutral events are more threatening. There have been connections made between eating disorders and depression. So it can be hypothesized that the depression and eating disorders share the same biases that maintain them. There has been research to focusing connection between eating disorders and interpretation of

They were asked to complete multiple questionnaires to assess the variables being researched. To measure difficulties in emotion regulation, a version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale was used that showed stronger relationships between behaviors and eating disorders in a non-clinical setting. The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire and DSM-5 were used to measure the severity of eating disorders. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Survey was used to measure the levels of depression and anxiety. A word memory recall test, with positive, negative, and neutral traits, was used to calculate memory biases for negative emotional content. The Ambiguous Scenarios Test for Depression was used to assess negative interpretation

However, it was unable to be proven that there was a connection between negative memory bias, disordered eating and behaviors, and emotion regulation difficulties. There would need to be further research to investigate that connection. The study should also be repeated in a clinical setting, to further research these connections with people who experience greater levels of eating disorders and greater mood impact. Research should also be continued to investigate how this could influence the intervention of eating disorders. If negative interpretation bias, helps to maintain eating disorders, then a technique for positive interpretation bias training could have an impact on eating disorders. More research needs to be done regarding these cognitive biases and their impact on the treatment of eating disorders and their effects on maintaining eating disorders and disordered eating