IS THE SELECTIVE INFORMATION-PROCESSING OF FOOD AND BODY WORDS SPECIFIC TO PATIENTS WITH EATING DISORDERS

The selective processing of food- and body size-related information wa s investigated using a modified version of the Stroop task. Anorexic a nd bulimic patients and matched female controls were compared on the b asis of categorical (diagnosis), dimensional (restraint and drive for thinness) criteria, or both. The findings suggest that the phenomenon assessed by the Stroop paradigm is not exclusive to patients with a cl inical eating disorder, but patients and those control subjects who ar e restrained eaters with a high drive for thinness share a selective p rocessing of information related to shape and eating. The discussion f ocuses on the implications of these findings. (C) 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.