King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Division of Psychological Medicine and Psychiatry, Section of Eating Disorders, P059, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK.
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2012 Dec;43(4):1095-103. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2012.05.006. Epub 2012 Jun 7.
The majority of people with eating disorders (ED) experience high levels of comorbid anxiety and depression, yet the maintenance processes of these in ED remain largely unknown. Worry, a defining cognitive feature and important maintenance factor of anxiety, has not been well-studied amongst people with ED. This is the first study to explore both the process and content characteristics of catastrophic worry in ED.
Twenty-nine patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), 15 patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) and 37 healthy controls (HC) completed measures assessing anxiety, depression, worry and eating disorder pathology. Catastrophic worry was assessed using the Catastrophizing Interview and catastrophic worry content was explored using qualitative Thematic Analysis.
Compared to HCs, ED groups had higher levels of anxiety, depression and worry and they generated a greater number of catastrophic worry steps. Worry was further found associated with depressive symptomatology in those with ED. Worry content for the ED groups included ED themes, but also themes reflecting broader inter and intrapersonal concerns.
The degree to which worry is driven by depressive versus anxious symptomatology remains unclear. The current study does not include an anxious or depressed control group, and results should be considered in the light of relatively small samples sizes.
Findings indicate that interventions that target worry processes may be a useful adjunct to treatment for those ED patients with clinical worry levels.
大多数饮食障碍（ED）患者都伴有高水平的共病焦虑和抑郁，但 ED 患者的这些维持过程在很大程度上仍不清楚。担忧是焦虑的一个重要认知特征和维持因素，但在 ED 患者中尚未得到充分研究。这是第一项研究探索 ED 患者的灾难性担忧的过程和内容特征。
29 名神经性厌食症（AN）患者、15 名神经性贪食症（BN）患者和 37 名健康对照组（HC）完成了评估焦虑、抑郁、担忧和饮食障碍病理的测量。使用灾难化访谈评估灾难性担忧，使用定性主题分析探索灾难性担忧内容。
与 HC 相比，ED 组的焦虑、抑郁和担忧水平更高，产生的灾难性担忧步骤也更多。在 ED 患者中，担忧与抑郁症状相关。ED 组的担忧内容包括 ED 主题，但也反映了更广泛的人际和内在问题。
担忧是由抑郁还是焦虑症状驱动仍不清楚。本研究不包括焦虑或抑郁对照组，应考虑到相对较小的样本量来解释研究结果。
研究结果表明，针对担忧过程的干预措施可能对有临床担忧水平的 ED 患者的治疗有帮助。
