Exploring the relationship between cognitive style and daily functioning in patients with anorexia nervosa

Amy Talbot, Phillipa Hay, Stephen Touyz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of cognitive style on the interpersonal functioning and quality of life (QOL) for patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). Forty-nine individuals with lifetime AN and 43 healthy controls completed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Matching Familiar Figures Test, and the Rey Complex Figure Task measuring cognitive flexibility, local processing, and global processing, respectively. Participants also completed questionnaires assessing interpersonal functioning and QOL. A small number of significant correlations were observed between cognitive performance and daily functioning as measured by QOL and interpersonal functioning, however, most of these correlations were in the opposite direction to that expected indicating that poorer cognitive performance was associated with fewer difficulties with daily functioning. These results highlight the importance of shifting the focus of future research to attempting to understand the clinical significance of the specific cognitive profile found in patients with AN.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)300-310
Number of pages11
JournalAdvances in Eating Disorders: theory, research and practice
Volume3
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Keywords

  • anorexia nervosa
  • cognitive styles
  • quality of life

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