Reconsidering delay discounting in bulimia nervosa

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Delay discounting, a measure of impulsivity, involves preference for smaller-sooner over larger-later rewards.
• Bulimia nervosa (BN) is characterized by immediate reward-seeking behaviors (binge eating, purging) impacting future well-being.
• Previous studies indicated higher delay discounting in individuals with BN compared to healthy controls (HC).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate delay discounting of monetary and food rewards in women with BN compared to HC women.
• To replicate and extend prior findings on delay discounting in BN.
• To examine the relationship between delay discounting, trait impulsivity, and eating disorder symptom severity in BN.

Main Methods:

• Participants included 20 women with BN and 20 HC women.
• Methods involved diagnostic interviews, delay discounting tasks (monetary and food rewards), and trait impulsivity measures.
• Data analysis compared delay discounting rates and examined correlations within the BN group.

Main Results:

• Contrary to previous research, women with BN exhibited decreased delay discounting for both monetary and food rewards compared to HC women.
• Within the BN group, participants showed significantly higher delay discounting for food rewards than for monetary rewards.
• For women with BN, heightened delay discounting of food rewards, not monetary rewards, correlated with increased negative and positive urgency (trait impulsivity facets).

Conclusions:

• Delay discounting may be more variable in individuals with bulimia nervosa than previously assumed.
• The preference for immediate food rewards, indicated by higher delay discounting, is linked to emotional impulsivity in BN.
• Findings suggest a nuanced understanding of decision-making processes in BN, particularly concerning reward valuation and impulsivity.