Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2020 May;28(3):318-331. doi: 10.1002/erv.2724. Epub 2020 Jan 30.
Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) show an impairment in the recognition and expression of emotions, as well as an increased sensitivity to being socially excluded, and rigid maladaptive schemas. The Cyberball paradigm is a virtual ball-toss game that can simulate social exclusion and inclusion. Our aim is to evaluate how cognitive schemas can influence the perception and the evaluation of the experiences of social inclusion/exclusion.
Thirty-two AN patients and 34 healthy controls completed a psychological evaluation and were randomly assigned to exclusion or overinclusion paradigm of the Cyberball task.
Patients with AN showed a significantly higher level of maladaptive schemas as well as higher sensitivity to being ostracized by peers in comparison with healthy controls. Regression analyses identified specific significant relation between being ostracized and dependence/incompetence, negativity/pessimism, and self-sacrifice.
Our findings provide evidence that patients with AN may be ineffective in expressing their mood in exclusive and overinclusive social situations. Specific cognitive/temperamental schemas might play a role in the way people communicate their feelings, and they could be considered targets for psychotherapy interventions to improve social interpretation and emotional recognition/communication.
神经性厌食症（AN）患者在识别和表达情绪方面存在障碍，对被社会排斥和僵化的适应不良模式更为敏感。Cyberball 范式是一种可以模拟社会排斥和包容的虚拟抛球游戏。我们的目的是评估认知模式如何影响对社会包容/排斥的感知和评价。
32 名 AN 患者和 34 名健康对照组完成了心理评估，并被随机分配到 Cyberball 任务的排斥或过度包容范式中。
与健康对照组相比，AN 患者表现出更高水平的适应不良模式，对同伴的排斥更为敏感。回归分析确定了被排斥与依赖/无能、消极/悲观和自我牺牲之间的特定显著关系。
我们的研究结果表明，AN 患者在排他性和过度包容的社会情境中可能无法有效地表达自己的情绪。特定的认知/气质模式可能在人们表达情感的方式中发挥作用，它们可以被视为心理治疗干预的目标，以改善社会理解和情感识别/交流。
