Influence of Control Deprivation on the Use of the Analytical Cognitive Style in Anorexic Subjects (PriCo-SCASA)

Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Anorexia Nervosa

Treatments: Other: Cognitive Control Deprivation Task

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07274722

2023-A00826-39

Details and patient eligibility

About

The use of an analytical cognitive style is a specific feature of anorexia nervosa and is thought to contribute to the maintenance of the disorder, in particular by encouraging fragmented body perception and a focus on certain parts of the body to the detriment of overall harmony and coherence. The need for control has also been described as an important element in the pathology. At the same time, some authors have shown that, outside of any pathology, recourse to the analytical cognitive style could respond to a need to restore control and, in turn, improve the feeling of control. However, at present, no causal relationship has been demonstrated between the feeling of loss of control and the analytical cognitive style in anorexia nervosa. However, such a relationship would enable us to gain a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the disorder and to better target the treatment of patients.

Enrollment: 54 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Be undergoing treatment at Centre Hospitalier Laborit (CHL) or Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) de Poitiers for an Eating Disorder (ED) of the Anorexia Nervosa type.
• Patients must meet the diagnostic criteria for Anorexia Nervosa according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, APA, 2013), or present a sub-clinical symptomatology requiring treatment:

(A) Restriction of energy intake relative to requirements, leading to a significantly low body weight, taking into account age, sex, developmental stage, and physical health; (B) Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, or persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain, even when at a significantly low weight; (C) Disturbance in the way body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-esteem, or persistent lack of recognition of the seriousness of the current low body weight.

Exclusion criteria

• Objection of the referring therapist
• Currently receiving cognitive remediation targeting mental flexibility and central coherence
• Body Mass Index (BMI) less than 14
• Inability to understand instructions in French
• Visual impairment or dyslexia

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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54 participants in 1 patient group

Cognitive Control Deprivation

Experimental group

Treatment:

Other: Cognitive Control Deprivation Task