Critical incidents in anorexia nervosa
Background: Although social-emotional difficulties are believed play a key role in anorexia nervosa (AN), there is uncertainty regarding what these difficulties might look like. Previous research has largely focused on a “disease model” of social-emotional processing in AN with little attention paid to positive emotions and experiences. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to obtain a fuller picture of critical life events in AN. Methods: Thirty-four participants aged 16-48 with current or past AN completed an online survey describing self-defined positive and difficult critical events.Results: Two major themes were identified in the descriptions of positive critical events: Moments of celebration, reflecting external focus, and Unexpected positive outcomes, revealing negative biases. Difficult events were broadly divided into included eating disorder (ED) related and Non-ED life events, involving discussion of relational conflict and feeling unsupported. Discussion: The findings suggest that AN is characterised by negative emotionality and bias. However, reduced self-focused attention and increased “big-picture” thinking, and shifting negative expectation through corrective experiences may be helpful in AN and could be useful targets for further research.