Fantozzi Pamela, Billeci Lucia, Muratori Pietro, Maestro Sandra, Muratori Filippo, Chakrabarti Bhismadev, Calderoni Sara
IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Viale del Tirreno 331, Pisa, I-56018, Italy.
Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Pisa, Italy.
J Eat Disord. 2024 Aug 14;12(1):116. doi: 10.1186/s40337-024-01075-z.
Despite their apparent dissimilarity, Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) share many features, especially in terms of social and emotional difficulties. In recent years, empathic abilities in AN have been frequently assessed using self-report measures. Otherwise, the director task (DT) has been used to investigate the ability to take the visual perspective of another individual in a communicative context, using eye-tracking technology. The aim of the current study was to test the presence of autism-relevant features in AN, through: (i) comparing self-reported autistic traits and empathic abilities in a group of young inpatients with AN and age/gender matched healthy controls (HC); (ii) comparing performance on the director paradigm.
The participants were females in the age-range between 11 and 18 years: 24 with AN and 23 HC. Autistic traits, empathic abilities, and severity of the eating disorder were respectively measured using: the Autism Quotient (AQ), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and the Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI-3). Both groups performed a computerized task in which a director instructed them to move objects placed on a set of shelves using a mouse, while their eye gaze was tracked. A total of 36 shelf configurations, divided into three categories (with dimensional distractor - with spatial distractor - control), were created.
Subjects with AN showed higher autistic traits than HC. Eye-tracking data revealed that subjects with AN took longer to decide which object to select and where to move it, both in distractor-trials and in control-trials. In the AN group, we found a significant negative correlation between the total score of the AQ and the number of fixations to the irrelevant object in the dimensional control condition -in which the subjects were asked to focus on dimensional aspects of the object (large-small)-.
Autistic traits were over-represented in a group of young inpatients with AN. Through the use of eye-tracking technology, this exploratory study documented some differences between AN inpatients and HC in their online processes during the perspective taking tasks, which could be considered a target of tailored intervention. A larger sample of patients is needed to confirm these preliminary findings.
尽管神经性厌食症（AN）和自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）表面上存在差异，但它们有许多共同特征，尤其是在社交和情感方面的困难。近年来，常使用自我报告量表来评估AN患者的共情能力。此外，指示任务（DT）已被用于利用眼动追踪技术研究在交流情境中理解他人视觉视角的能力。本研究的目的是通过以下方式测试AN患者中与自闭症相关特征的存在情况：（i）比较一组患有AN的年轻住院患者与年龄/性别匹配的健康对照者（HC）自我报告的自闭症特征和共情能力；（ii）比较在指示范式任务中的表现。
参与者为年龄在11至18岁之间的女性：24名患有AN，23名HC。分别使用自闭症商数（AQ）、人际反应指数（IRI）和进食障碍问卷-3（EDI-3）来测量自闭症特征、共情能力和进食障碍的严重程度。两组都进行了一项计算机任务，在该任务中，一名指示者指导他们使用鼠标移动放置在一组架子上的物体，同时追踪他们的目光。总共创建了36种架子配置，分为三类（有维度干扰物 - 有空间干扰物 - 对照）。
患有AN的受试者显示出比HC更高的自闭症特征。眼动追踪数据显示，在干扰试验和对照试验中，患有AN的受试者决定选择哪个物体以及将其移动到何处所需的时间更长。在AN组中，我们发现AQ总分与维度控制条件下对无关物体的注视次数之间存在显著负相关，在该条件下，受试者被要求关注物体的维度方面（大 - 小）。
患有AN的年轻住院患者组中自闭症特征的比例过高。通过使用眼动追踪技术，这项探索性研究记录了AN住院患者和HC在采取视角任务期间的在线过程中的一些差异，这可被视为针对性干预的目标。需要更大的患者样本量来证实这些初步发现。
