Clinical binge eating, but not uncontrolled eating, is associated with differences in executive functions: Evidence from meta-analytic findings

Restrained Eating Is Associated with Lower Cortical Thickness in the Inferior Frontal Gyrus in Adolescents

“…This stands in clear contrast with findings from clinical eating disorders, where different studies have shown that these patients perform worse than healthy controls in executive functions [26,[45][46][47] (but see [48] for negative findings). The magnitude of these effects ranges from small, in the case of binge eating disorder [26], to medium size, in the case of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa [45]. Together with our current finding, these results support the idea that nonclinical variations in eating behaviors are not accompanied by any conclusive differences in cognitive processing.…”

“…The three clusters did not differ in terms of executive functions and personality. In a previous meta-analysis we showed that non-clinical uncontrolled eating patterns seem unrelated to performance in executive functions [26]. This stands in clear contrast with findings from clinical eating disorders, where different studies have shown that these patients perform worse than healthy controls in executive functions [26,[45][46][47] (but see [48] for negative findings).…”

“…In a previous meta-analysis we showed that non-clinical uncontrolled eating patterns seem unrelated to performance in executive functions [26]. This stands in clear contrast with findings from clinical eating disorders, where different studies have shown that these patients perform worse than healthy controls in executive functions [26,[45][46][47] (but see [48] for negative findings). The magnitude of these effects ranges from small, in the case of binge eating disorder [26], to medium size, in the case of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa [45].…”

“…However, another study reported that, in participants with lower scores in executive functions, restrained eating was correlated with higher sensitivity to punishment and higher reward responsivity [25]. With regards to uncontrolled eating patterns, we found null associations between this eating trait and performance in executive functions across 10 independent studies [26]. One possible explanation for this is that eating traits might be associated with specific subdomains of executive function performance (such as working memory, cognitive flexibility, or planning), rather than with general executive function deficits.…”

Binge behaviors: Assessment, determinants, and consequences

“…This Special Issue gathers 11 original research and review articles that address different types of binge behaviors: binge drinking ( Deniel et al, 2021 , Gierski et al, 2020 , Herman et al, 2020 , Mange et al, 2021 , Werle et al, 2021 ), binge eating ( Prunell-Castañé et al, 2021 , Werle et al, 2021 ), binge watching ( Cordeiro et al, 2021 , Ort et al, 2021 , Rubenking and Bracken, 2021 , Werle et al, 2021 ), and binge-porn consumption (i.e., hypersexuality and problematic pornography use; Castro-Calvo et al, 2021 , Koós et al, 2021 ). These articles primarily consist of empirical studies that build on self-report questionnaires, but a few rely on behavioral assessments, ecological approaches (i.e., sampling experiences), or literature reviews.…”