[Cognitive biases in an experimental task of focalized selective attention in eating disorders]. / Sesgos cognitivos en una tarea experimental de atención selectiva focalizada en los trastornos de la conducta alimentaria.

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive processing differences based on attentional biases of words pertaining to eating disorders were investigated. We performed a computerized Stroop color-naming task in which the subjects named the colors of four word groups (food-related, eating disorders behaviours-related, emotional and neutral) to measure differences in the processing of these stimuli. METHOD: Participants were 144 females with eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or a combination of both) and 172 female controls. RESULTS: In agreement with predictions, the three eating disorder groups were significantly slower than the controls in identifying the color of all word groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate the existence of biases in stimuli processing related with eating behavior disorders.

[Spanish version of the Gardner body image validation scale in patients with eating behavior disorders]. / Adaptación española de la escala de evaluación de la imagen corporal de Gardner en pacientes con trastornos de la conducta alimentaria.

This study reports the Spanish version of a new scale for the assessment of body image, developed by Gardner, Stark, Jackson and Friedman (1999). A silhouette method was used as a self-evaluation measure of schematic ideal body size within three groups of women: anorexia nervosa (n= 57), bulimia nervosa (n=57) and normal control (n=168). The results showed that, considering the body mass index as covariant of the results, the clinical groups formed by anorexic and bulimic patients judged their current body size as significantly greater than the control group. In the same way, the clinical groups judged their ideal body size significantly thinner than that considered by the control group. We can conclude that this scale for assessment is a sensitive psychometrical measure of the body image.