All I Need Is Two: The Clinical Potential of Adding Evaluative Pairing Procedures to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Changing Self-, Body- and Food-Related Evaluations

Halbeisen, Georg; Paslakis, Georgios

doi:10.3390/jcm10204703

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 110 publications

(213 reference statements)

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“…The evidence for mediation reiterates the importance of assessing the mechanisms underlying the effects of pairing procedures. We proposed that learning (or failing to learn) the intended target → source contingency drives evaluative pairing effects, and speculated that similar previous studies (also different in several ways) may have failed to observe the effect of pairing participants' body images with other positive stimuli due to participants failing to learn the manipulated contingency [ 15 ]. Of course, we cannot verify these speculations a posteriori, and there are multiple mechanisms by which pairing procedures may exert a positive effect [ 19 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A promising candidate for improving body dissatisfaction directly is evaluative conditioning or pairing procedures [ 15 ]. Evaluative conditioning has been defined as the change in liking (i.e., the subjective appraisal as positive or negative) of a target conditioned stimulus (CS) due to its pairing with a liked or disliked source, i.e., the unconditioned stimulus (US; [ 16 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How evaluative pairings improve body dissatisfaction in adult women: evidence from a randomized-controlled online study

Dumstorf,

Halbeisen,

Paslakis

2024

J Eat Disord

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Background Many young women are dissatisfied with their bodies. This study investigated the effect on current body dissatisfaction levels of a newly developed evaluative conditioning procedure that paired self-similar and self-dissimilar images of bodies with positive and neutral affective images, respectively. We hypothesized that learning the contingency that self-similar bodies predict positive affectivity is one process that could aid in explaining how these procedures function. Methods Adult women without disordered eating pathology participated in an online experiment with random assignment to an intervention or a control condition. All participants initially rated body images in self-similarity and were subsequently asked to categorize positive and neutral images by valence as quickly and accurately as possible. In the intervention condition, self-similar bodies systematically preceded positive images, and self-dissimilar images preceded neutral images, creating a similar body → positive contingency. Pairings in the control condition were unsystematic such that no contingency was present. We measured categorization latencies and accuracies to infer contingency learning as well as current body dissatisfaction immediately before and after exposure to the pairings. All participants further completed measures of trait body image concerns and disordered eating psychopathology at baseline, which we examined as moderators of an expected relation between condition assignment, contingency learning, and body dissatisfaction improvements. Results We analyzed data from N = 173 women fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Moderated mediation analyses showed that assignment to the intervention (vs. control) condition predicted increased similar body → positive contingency learning, which in turn predicted improved body dissatisfaction post-intervention, but only among women with higher pre-existing trait body image concerns or disordered eating levels. Conclusions The findings point toward the relevancy of further exploring the utility of pairing procedures. Similar body → positive contingency learning predicted improved body dissatisfaction in individuals with normatively high body image concerns, which suggests pairing procedures could help inform future research on reducing body dissatisfaction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How evaluative pairings improve body dissatisfaction in adult women: evidence from a randomized-controlled online study

Dumstorf,

Halbeisen,

Paslakis

2024

J Eat Disord

Self Cite

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Can evaluative pairings of others’ bodies improve body dissatisfaction indirectly? A randomized-controlled online study with adult women

Tullius,

Halbeisen,

Paslakis

2024

Journal of Psychiatric Research

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Disgust-reduction evaluative conditioning (DREC) and brain stimulation in patients with contamination-based obsessive-compulsive disorder: a protocol for a randomized control trial

Al Mohaddesin,

Moghimi,

Fadardi

2023

Trials

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Background The negative emotional valence of a stimulus can be altered if paired with a pleasant stimulus, a phenomenon referred to as evaluative conditioning. Disgust, as a central emotion in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly in the contamination subtype, may be an appropriate target for such a method. We know that disgust processing and OCD pathophysiology share in some brain areas, including the orbitofrontal cortex, as the neuromodulation techniques targeted in this area have been able to decrease OCD symptoms. We aim to conduct a randomized clinical trial to investigate the evaluative conditioning effect on disgust reduction in patients with contamination-based OCD when administered with or without neuromodulation targeted orbitofrontal cortex. Method In a single-blind randomized control trial (RCT), 55 patients with contamination-based OCD will be randomly assigned to four arms. In a factorial design, they will receive 10 sessions of evaluative conditioning training (either sham or real) plus cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the orbitofrontal cortex (either sham or real). The intensity of disgust experience and clinical symptoms will be investigated as primary outcomes and quantitative electroencephalogram and cognitive functions as secondary outcomes. The data will be collected at three assessment levels: baseline, after completing intervention sessions, and 2-month follow-up. Discussion The present RCT is the first study that applies evaluative conditioning training in the OCD clinical sample. It will clarify the effect of the evaluative conditioning method alone and with tDCS on disgust reduction in patients with contamination-based OCD. It will provide initial evidence for such an emotion modulation method in the OCD population. The effect of this emotion-focused protocol on cognitive functions and electroencephalogram components is also of interest. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05907369. Registered on 16 June 2023. Retrospectively registered.

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All I Need Is Two: The Clinical Potential of Adding Evaluative Pairing Procedures to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Changing Self-, Body- and Food-Related Evaluations

Cited by 3 publications

References 110 publications

How evaluative pairings improve body dissatisfaction in adult women: evidence from a randomized-controlled online study

How evaluative pairings improve body dissatisfaction in adult women: evidence from a randomized-controlled online study

Can evaluative pairings of others’ bodies improve body dissatisfaction indirectly? A randomized-controlled online study with adult women

Disgust-reduction evaluative conditioning (DREC) and brain stimulation in patients with contamination-based obsessive-compulsive disorder: a protocol for a randomized control trial

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