Susceptibility to eating disorders is associated with cognitive inflexibility in female university students

Abstract

The inability to learn from and adapt to changing feedback in our environment may be etiologically linked to eating disorders (EDs). However, previous investigations on this issue have shown conflicting results. In the current study with a non-clinical sample of female students, we investigated the relation between cognitive inflexibility (CI) and vulnerability to EDs by using a modified version of the probabilistic reversal learning (PRL) task, which requires participants to adapt their response strategy according to changes in stimulus-reward contingencies. We found that females vulnerable to EDs in the general population showed an impaired PRL performance, also after controlling for comorbidity. However, our results also show that the ED construct comprises separate dimensions, which affect contingency learning in opposite manners: some individuals vulnerable to EDs showed impaired contingency learning; others used unimpaired contingency learning skills to pursue self-harming goals. Such results point to the necessity of an appropriate assessment of CI in order to better apply individualized treatment.