A systematic review and meta-analysis of ‘Systems for Social Processes’ in eating disorders

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.12.002

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

Volume 42, May 2014, Pages 55-92

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.12.002 Get rights and content

Highlights

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We translated the NIMH RDoC ‘Systems of Social Processes’ in eating disorders (ED).
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We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis.
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People with ED showed problems in the majority of constructs of social processing.
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There was no information available about action perception.
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Clinical interventions targeting social processing in required.

Abstract

Social and emotional problems have been implicated in the development and maintenance of eating disorders (ED). This paper reviews the facets of social processing in ED according to the NIMH Research and Domain Criteria (NIMH RDoC) ‘Systems for Social Processes’ framework. Embase, Medline, PsycInfo and Web of Science were searched for peer-reviewed articles published by March 2013. One-hundred and fifty four studies measuring constructs of: attachment, social communication, perception and understanding of self and others, and social dominance in people with ED, were identified. Eleven meta-analyses were performed, they showed evidence that people with ED had attachment insecurity (d = 1.31), perceived low parental care (d = .51), appraised high parental overprotection (d = 0.29), impaired facial emotion recognition (d = .44) and facial communication (d = 2.10), increased facial avoidance (d = .52), reduced agency (d = .39), negative self-evaluation (d = 2.27), alexithymia (d = .66), poor understanding of mental states (d = 1.07) and sensitivity to social dominance (d = 1.08). There is less evidence for problems with production and reception of non-facial communication, animacy and action.

Section snippets

NIMH Research and Domain Criteria project

The National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project was developed as a new approach to classifying psychological disorders using the dimensions of observable behaviours and brain functions (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/research-priorities/rdoc/nimh-research-domain-criteria-rdoc.shtml). The ultimate aim of the NIMH RDoC is for “advances in genomics, pathophysiology, and behavioural science to inform diagnosis in a meaningful way”. At present, the NIMH RDoC has

NIMH RDoC of interest in eating disorders (ED): social processes

Problems with social and emotional functioning have been implicated in the development and maintenance of eating disorders (ED) and have thus been included in explanatory models of these illnesses (Schmidt and Treasure, 2006, Treasure et al., 2012, Treasure and Schmidt, 2013). Several published reviews describe problems with social processing among people with EDs (e.g., Arcelus et al., 2013, DeJong et al., 2013, Nowakowski et al., 2013, Oldershaw et al., 2011, Rieger et al., 2010, Zucker et

Aim

The overall aim is to begin a process to describe and integrate the fundamental genetic, neurobiological behavioural, environmental, and experiential components of ED. The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature related to the psychopathology of ED based on the constructs/sub-constructs within the NIMH RDoC domain of ‘Systems for Social Processes’. It is important to outline at this point that the NIMH RDoC criteria remain under refinement at this

Literature search

The electronic databases Embase (1974-present), Medline^® (1946-present), PsycINFO (1806-present) using Ovid and Science Citation Index Expanded (1900-present), Social Sciences Citation Index (1956-present) and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present) using Web of Science^® were searched to identify relevant articles written in English in peer reviewed journals during available years of publication to March 2013 (week 4) following the PRISMA guidelines (Moher 2010).

Search terms

The keywords EATING

Characteristics of included studies

Table 3 presents a summary of the main characteristics of each study included in the systematic review and meta-analyses. The majority of ED participant had a current diagnosis of AN. Self-report was the most prominent methodology to assess ‘Affiliation and attachment’, Self-Evaluation’ and ‘Social Dominance’. While experimental tasks were primarily used to assess ‘Reception of Facial Communication’, ‘Production of Facial Communication’, ‘Reception of Non-Facial Communication’, ‘Agency’,

Discussion

We have conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature related to the psychopathology of ED based on the constructs/sub-constructs within the NIMH RDoC domain of ‘Systems for Social processes’. The main conclusion from the synthesis of the literature confirmed is that people with ED exhibit aspects of psychopathology across the range of subconstructs within this domain. For ‘Affiliation and Attachment’ there was a large effect (d = 1.31) for insecure attachment, perceived low

Conclusions

This systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature relating to ‘Systems for Social processes’ as defined by the NIMH RDoC project suggests that people with ED exhibit aspects of psychopathology across the range of subconstructs within this domain although not all subconstructs have been examined. The problems were most marked in the domains of insecure attachment, alexithymia, lower facial communication, negative self-evaluation, and perceived social inferiority. The latter three may be

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ReviewA systematic review and meta-analysis of ‘Systems for Social Processes’ in eating disorders

Highlights

Abstract

Section snippets

NIMH Research and Domain Criteria project

NIMH RDoC of interest in eating disorders (ED): social processes

Aim

Literature search

Search terms

Characteristics of included studies

Discussion

Conclusions

Psychiatry Res.

Clin. Psych. Rev.

J. Psychosom. Res.

Pers. Indiv. Dif.

J. Beh. Ther. Exp. Psych.

Psychiatr. Res.

Compr. Psychiatry

J. Psychosom.

Eur. Psychiatry

New Ideas Psych.

J. Psychosom. Res.

Pers. Indiv. Diff.

Psychiatry Res.

Biol. Psychiatr.

J. Psychosom. Res.

Social cognition in anorexia nervosa: evidence of preserved theory of mind and impaired emotional functioning

PloS One

Construction of circumplex scales for the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems

J. Pers. Assess.

Predicting depressive symptoms with a new measure of shame: The Experience of Shame Scale

Br. J. Clin. Psychol.

Attachment theory, metacognitive functions and the therapeutic relationship in eating disorders

Eat. Weight. Disord.

The reciprocal effects of eating disorders and the postpartum period: a review of the literature and recommendations for clinical care

J. Womens Health.

The relationship between selflessness levels and the severity of anorexia nervosa symptomatology

Eur. Eat. Disord. Rev.

How anorexic-like are the symptom and personality profiles of aesthetic athletes?

Med. Sci. Sports Exerc.

The “Reading the mind in the eyes” test revised version: a study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism

J. Child Psychol. Psychiat.

Alexithymia, emotional empathy, and self-regulation in anorexia nervosa

Ann. Clin. Psych.

Relationship of dissociative experiences to body shape concerns in eating disorders

Eur. Eat. Disord. Rev.

Operating characteristics of a rank correlation test for publication bias

Biometrics

Psychosocial factors associated with broadly defined bulimia nervosa during early pregnancy: findings from Norwegian mother and child cohort study

Aus. NZ. J. Psychiatr.

Factors associated with binge eating disorder in pregnancy

Int. J. Eat. Disord.

Psychological characteristics of women with eating disorders: permanent or transient features?

Scand. J. Psychol.

The undue influence of shape and weight on self-evaluation in anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and restrained eaters: a combined ERP and behavioral study

Psychol. Med.

Parent-daughter discrepancies in perception of family function in bulimia nervosa

Psychiatry

Alexithymia in women with anorexia nervosa

Br. J. Psychiatry

Metan – an alternative meta-analysis command

Stata Tech. Bull.

Anorexia nervosa among French adolescent females in relation to self-esteem, coping strategies, anger expression and anger control

Arch. Psychiatry Psychother.

Uniting couples (in the treatment of) Anorexia Nervosa (UCAN)

Int. J. Eat. Disord.

Outcome of anorexia nervosa: eating attitudes, personality, and parental bonding

Int. J. Eat. Disord.

Emotion-processing deficits in eating disorders

Int. J. Eat. Disord.

Eating disorders and perceived relationships with parents

Int. J. Eat. Disord.

Anorexia nervosa and parental bonding: the contribution of parent–grandparent relationships to eating disorder psychopathology

J. Clin. Psychol.

Involuntary subordinate self-perception in eating disorders: an investigation of attentional bias to social rank and implicit processing of self-concept

PLoS One

Facial affect recognition in anorexia nervosa: is obsessionality a missing piece of the puzzle?

Aust. N. Z. J. Psychiatry

Understanding anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa from an attachment perspective

Review
A systematic review and meta-analysis of ‘Systems for Social Processes’ in eating disorders