Word Association Test and psychosexual cues in assessing persons with eating disorders

Perceptual and Motor Skills
E M BerryE Bachar

Abstract

The present study aimed to detect psychosexual conflicts in patients with eating disorders using the Word Association Test which tests the perceptual sensitivity of the subject to conflictual words. We also expected patients to show concern about food and eating. 19 anorexic patients, 21 bulimic patients, and 20 control subjects without eating disorders provided associations to four groups of words: psychosexual words, food words, emotionally loaded words, and neutral words. Reaction times were recorded. Analysis showed that anorexic patients were slower than controls in responding to food-related words but bulimic patients were not significantly different from controls. Anorexic patients reacted more slowly than controls to psychosexual words. Bulimic patients were also somewhat slower than controls but faster than anorexic patients; however, these differences were not statistically significant. Results are congruent with research that points to sexual problems and delays in the psychosexual development of anorexic patients and to a lesser extent of bulimic patients.

References

May 1, 1979·Psychological Medicine·D M Garner, P E Garfinkel
Nov 1, 1976·Psychological Medicine·P J BeumontD E Smart
Nov 1, 1991·Postgraduate Medical Journal·N A JoughinA V Bhat
Jul 1, 1991·Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica·J Raboch, F Faltus
Sep 1, 1988·The British Journal of Clinical Psychology·S ChannonP de Silva
Jul 1, 1983·Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica·H C Steinhausen, K Glanville
Sep 1, 1980·Archives of General Psychiatry·R C CasperJ M Davis
Nov 1, 1982·Psychological Medicine·D M GarnerP E Garfinkel
Dec 1, 1993·The International Journal of Eating Disorders·M W Green, P J Rogers

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations


❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric condition characterized by severe weight loss and secondary problems associated with malnutrition. Here is the latest research on AN.