Comparing the implicit and explicit associations of depression, anxiety and food attitudes in people with eating disorders and healthy people

Eating disorder is a complex psychiatric illness that is chronic and debilitating. In recent decades, the cognitive model of eating disorders has been at the forefront of theorizing, research, and treatment. New research uses two distinct theoretical models for explicit and implicit information processing and evaluation. The aim of the present study was to compare the implicit and explicit associations of depression, anxiety and food attitudes in people with eating disorders and healthy people. The method of study is descriptive and correlational. The statistical population includes people with eating disorders in Tehran who have referred to medical and counseling centers in the first six months of 1399. The sampling method was cluster accessible and purposeful. The sample size was 300 people who were examined with SCL-90 questionnaires, Ahvaz Eating Disorder Inventory (Sharififard, 1998), Food Attitude Scale (Teachman et al., 2003) and computer-based task of implicit association test (Greenwald et al., 1998). Data were analyzed by using analysis of variance, which showed there is a significant difference between people with eating disorders and healthy people in explicit and implicit association of depression, in implicit association of anxiety, and in explicit association of eating attitudes. The results of regression analysis also showed that only explicit and implicit association of depression, and implicit association of anxiety can significantly predict eating disorder. These results confirm the role of implicit and explicit associations in the clinical field; and helps to better understand eating disorder, to be considered in the development of educational programs and psychological interventions.