Faculty
Social Science
Supervisor Name
Dr. Lindsay Bodell
Keywords
Social cognition, eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder
Description
Social cognition refers to the cognitive processes involved in social interactions. Deficits in social cognition may play a role in the onset and maintenance of eating disorders (ED). The goal of this review was to examine the current literature on social cognition across EDs, specifically, anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED).
The search revealed 79 studies which were organized according to six domains of social cognition: alexithymia, theory of mind, empathy, social processing, emotion recognition, and emotion processing. Most studies examined AN, finding evidence for deficits in some domains of social cognition. Literature on BN and BED was more limited and inconsistent, but indicate preliminary evidence of deficits in social cognition. Overall, the literature review revealed limited coverage and mixed methodology across all types of EDs and domains of social cognition. Future research is needed to better understand any general or ED-specific social cognition deficits.
Acknowledgements
In addition to Western Research, Western Libraries, and Student Experience, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Lindsay Bodell, for her assistance and expertise.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Poster
Included in
Clinical Psychology Commons, Cognitive Psychology Commons, Mental Disorders Commons, Social Psychology Commons
Social Cognition Across Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review
Social cognition refers to the cognitive processes involved in social interactions. Deficits in social cognition may play a role in the onset and maintenance of eating disorders (ED). The goal of this review was to examine the current literature on social cognition across EDs, specifically, anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED).
The search revealed 79 studies which were organized according to six domains of social cognition: alexithymia, theory of mind, empathy, social processing, emotion recognition, and emotion processing. Most studies examined AN, finding evidence for deficits in some domains of social cognition. Literature on BN and BED was more limited and inconsistent, but indicate preliminary evidence of deficits in social cognition. Overall, the literature review revealed limited coverage and mixed methodology across all types of EDs and domains of social cognition. Future research is needed to better understand any general or ED-specific social cognition deficits.