Emotion regulation, emotion recognition, and empathy in adolescents with anorexia nervosa

• Published in: Eating and weight disorders Vol. 24; no. 5; pp. 825 - 834
• Main Authors: Nalbant, Kevser, Kalaycı, Bilge Merve, Akdemir, Devrim, Akgül, Sinem, Kanbur, Nuray
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-10-2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Alexithymia; Anorexia; Anorexia Nervosa - psychology; Anxiety - psychology; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child development; Depression - psychology; Emotional Regulation - physiology; Emotions; Emotions - physiology; Empathy; Empathy - physiology; Facial Expression; Facial Recognition - physiology; Female; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Article; Personality and Eating and Weight disorders; Psychiatry; Social Perception; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenagers; Theory of Mind - physiology; Emotion recognition; Empathy; Anorexia nervosa; Emotion regulation; Adolescent; Alexithymia
• ISSN: 1590-1262; 1124-4909; 1590-1262
• DOI: 10.1007/s40519-019-00768-8

Purpose
Emotional functions may play an important role in anorexia nervosa (AN). The onset of the disorder generally occurs during adolescence, which is a critical period of emotional development. However, most studies that evaluated emotional functions in AN were conducted in adult patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate emotion regulation, emotion recognition, and empathy skills in adolescent girls with AN by controlling for the effects of depression and anxiety symptoms, childhood traumatic experiences, and attachment security on emotional functions.
Methods
Thirty-two adolescent girls with AN and 32 healthy counterparts completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, and the Child and Adolescent KA-SI Empathic Tendency Scale-Adolescent Form.
Results
The results revealed that adolescents with AN were found to have more difficulties in emotion regulation, higher alexithymic tendencies, and lower empathy skills compared with the control group. However, emotion recognition was not found to be significantly different between the two groups. These results were the same when controlling for the effects of depression and anxiety symptoms, childhood traumatic experiences, and attachment security except for empathy skills. Alexithymia and depressive symptoms were significantly related to emotion regulation difficulties in adolescents with AN.
Conclusions
Considering the results, it seems that emotion regulation and alexithymia may play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of AN. Accordingly, it is necessary to focus on the improvement of these skills during the treatment of AN. Furthermore, interventions promoting these skills during adolescence may be preventive.
Level of evidence
Level III, case–control study.