Emotional Responses to Food Pictures according to Caloric Value in Women with an Eating Disorder

Objective: The aim of the current study was to improve the understanding of emotions evoked by food pictures in women with an eating disorder (ED), by distinguishing anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) diagnoses, while taking into account the caloric content of food and the influence of participants’ nutritional knowledge. Methods: Thirteen AN, 9 BN and 22 healthy controls (HC) women participated in the study. In a laboratory setting, participants first completed self-report questionnaires regarding their affective state. Then, an emotional rating task of food and non-food pictures was performed in order to examine participants’ emotional reactions to these pictures, depending on the caloric value of the food depicted and controlling for internal state. Finally, an energy density ranking task of food pictures was completed to investigate participants’ nutritional knowledge and its influence on their reactions to food. Results: Compared to HC, ED participants experienced more fear towards food, which was neither due to their internal state nor to their nutritional knowledge. In AN, fear occurred towards all food, whereas in BN, fear was observed for high-calorie products only. Conclusion: The key role of food-induced fear in ED was highlighted, particularly in AN.