Inhibitory control in bulimic-type eating disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PLoS One. 2013 Dec 31;8(12):e83412. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0083412. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

The aim of this meta-analysis was to summarise data from neuropsychological studies on inhibitory control to general and disease-salient (i.e., food/eating, body/shape) stimuli in bulimic-type eating disorders (EDs). A systematic literature search was conducted to identify eligible experimental studies. The outcome measures studied included the performance on established inhibitory control tasks in bulimic-type EDs. Effect sizes (Hedges' g) were pooled using random-effects models. For inhibitory control to general stimuli, 24 studies were included with a total of 563 bulimic-type ED patients: 439 had bulimia nervosa (BN), 42 had anorexia nervosa of the binge/purge subtype (AN-b), and 82 had binge eating disorder (BED). With respect to inhibitory control to disease-salient stimuli, 12 studies were included, representing a total of 218 BN patients. A meta-analysis of these studies showed decreased inhibitory control to general stimuli in bulimic-type EDs (g = -0.32). Subgroup analysis revealed impairments with a large effect in the AN-b group (g = -0.91), impairments with a small effect in the BN group (g = -0.26), and a non-significant effect in the BED group (g = -0.16). Greater impairments in inhibitory control were observed in BN patients when confronted with disease-salient stimuli (food/eating: g = -0.67; body/shape: g = -0.61). In conclusion, bulimic-type EDs showed impairments in inhibitory control to general stimuli with a small effect size. There was a significantly larger impairment in inhibitory control to disease salient stimuli observed in BN patients, constituting a medium effect size.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review
  • Systematic Review

MeSH terms

  • Anorexia Nervosa / psychology
  • Binge-Eating Disorder / psychology
  • Bulimia / psychology
  • Bulimia Nervosa / psychology*
  • Feeding and Eating Disorders / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Inhibition, Psychological*
  • Male
  • Neuropsychological Tests

Grants and funding

MW was supported by a travelling fellowship from the China Scholarship Council, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, P. R. China. MS was supported by a grant from the German Research Foundation (FR2626/3-1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.