Cognitive avoidance and bulimic psychopathology: the relevance of temporal factors in a nonclinical population

Previous research has provided evidence of both an attentional bias towards, and a cognitive avoidance of threat cues, by individuals with unhealthy eating attitudes and disorders. It has been suggested that an initial attentional bias might be followed by a later avoidance process. The present study assessed the speed of processing of self-directed ego threat words following different interstimulus intervals (500, 1,000, 1,500, and 2,000 ms).

Fifty female students completed a computer-driven threat processing task and the Eating Disorders Inventory.

Women were significantly slower to process ego-self threat cues following the 2, 000-ms interval than following the other intervals (500, 1,000, and 1,500 ms). Those women with increased levels of bulimic attitudes were slower to process threats following the 1,500-ms interval, but not after the longer or shorter intervals.

The results stress the importance of temporal factors in the processing of threat by individuals with high levels of eating psychopathology. The findings are discussed in terms of an appropriate cognitive model.