Eating Concerns and Compulsivity

NCT03450291 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: R51898/RE003
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 82
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study uses a computational task to examine differences in adaptive learning to both rewards and punishments between three groups: those who have recovered from anorexia nervosa, those who score highly on the EAT-26 (Eating Attitudes Test - 26 item version; an eating disorder symptom scale), and healthy controls. This task also allows the examination of pupil response (thought to reflect norepinephrine activity) in response to expected and unexpected wins and losses.

Conditions

Anorexia Nervosa in Remission; Eating Disorder

Keywords

Computational

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Difference between eating disorder risk groups and healthy controls in extent to which learning rate difference between win-volatile and loss-volatile blocks changes.

  Difference in relative inverse logit learning rate (alpha) for the volatile versus stable blocks between groups.

  1 day

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Whether there is a difference in the learning rate for different valence environmental information (positive vs. negative) across groups.

  1 day

• Differences in pupil dilation after volatility and surprising events between groups

  1 day

• Correlation between relative log learning rate (alpha) change between blocks and eating disorder symptom scores on the Eating Attitudes Questionnaire - 26 item version

  1 day

• Correlate relative log learning rate and beta size (an inverse temperature parameter) with perseverative errors on the Wisconsin Card Sort task across groups

  1 day

Study Arms (3)

Recovered from anorexia nervosa

EXPERIMENTAL

Those who have a past diagnosis of AN (defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5) criteria) but are currently recovered, as shown by BMI over 18.5 throughout the last 12 months (self-report and current weight measured). Defined as either 'fully recovered'and: score must be within the 'normal range' of the Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) global mean scores for young women, below 20 on the EAT-26 and below 16 on the Clinical Impairment Assessment for Eating Disorders (CIA); or partially recovered where one or more of these scores may be above the above-mentioned cutoffs.

Other: Volatility task

High scoring on the EAT-26

EXPERIMENTAL

Those who score above 20 on the EAT-26, but who do not declare a former diagnosis of an eating disorder (though they may meet criteria for a current diagnosis during the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-5).

Other: Volatility task

Healthy controls

EXPERIMENTAL

No history of or current diagnosis of any psychiatric disorder (especially eating disorders) which could impact study results.

Other: Volatility task

Interventions

Volatility task OTHER

Participants complete a volatility task, with pupillometry; and a Wisconsin Card Sort Task.

Healthy controls; High scoring on the EAT-26; Recovered from anorexia nervosa

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 45 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Participant is willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the study.
• Females aged 18 to 45 years.
• BMI over 18.5 and has remained so for the last year.
• Past formal diagnosis of AN (defined by DSM-5 criteria).
• Fully recovered: Score must be below 2.767 on the EDE-Q, below 16 on the CIA, and below 20 on the EAT-26 or partially recovered: scores may be above 2.767, 16 and 20 respectively.
• Score below 2.767 on the EDE-Q, below 16 on the CIA, and below 20 on the EAT-26.

You may not qualify if:

• Any current diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder which in the investigator's opinion could impact study results (e.g. significant depression, anxiety or OCD).
• Any current psychotropic medications.
• Current regular cigarette smoking of over 5 cigarettes per day.
• Recent use of illicit drugs.
• Alcohol intake which indicates an element of alcohol abuse; or unwillingness to refrain from drinking the night before the study visit.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Oxford: lead

Study Sites (1)

Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford

Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX3 7JX, United Kingdom

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Feeding and Eating Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Philip J Cowen, Prof

  University of Oxford

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Three parallel groups: those who have recovered from anorexia nervosa; those who worry a lot about eating, shape and weight; and healthy control participants will be included, and all will complete some questionnaires and two tasks.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 15, 2018
• First Posted: March 1, 2018
• Study Start: August 18, 2017
• Primary Completion: June 1, 2018
• Study Completion: June 1, 2018
• Last Updated: July 6, 2018

Record last verified: 2018-02

Locations

GB (1)