Objective: This two-part study investigated the cognitive processing of food- and threat-related information in a non-eating-disordered population, particularly exploring the mechanisms that might explain the process of cognitive avoidance among women with bulimic attitudes.
Method: In the first study, 30 female students solved anagrams of neutral, food, and threat words. In the second study, 50 male and female students solved anagrams of words reflecting physical threat, self-directed ego threat, and ego threat directed from others.
Results: In this task, there was no association between slower processing of threats and eating characteristics, but there were associations with Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI) scales that reflect "ego development."
Discussion: The most reliable evidence of cognitive avoidance was among those participants who show the ego development characteristics that have been identified as important in the development and etiology of eating psychopathology. The implications for models of eating psychopathology and their treatment are discussed.