Emotion regulation difficulties in anorexia nervosa: Relationship to self-perceived sensory sensitivity

Abstract

Changes in sensation (e.g., prickly skin) are crucial constituents of emotional experience, and the intensity of perceived changes has been linked to emotional intensity and dysregulation.The current study examined the relationship between sensory sensitivity and emotion regulation among adults with anorexia nervosa (AN), a disorder characterized by disturbance in the experience of the body. Twenty-one individuals with AN, 20 individuals with AN who were weight–restored, and 23 typical controls completed self-report measures of sensory sensitivity and emotion regulation. AN participants reported heightened sensory sensitivity and greater difficulty regulating emotions relative to controls. Self-perceived sensory sensitivity was associated with greater emotion dysregulation. Weight-restored AN participants reported greater ability to regulate emotions than their currently underweight counterparts, despite heightened sensitivity. Findings suggest that hypersensitivity may be a persisting feature in AN, and that weight restoration may involve improved ability to cope with sensation.

Psychological and Psychosocial Impairment in Preschoolers With Selective Eating

“…18 However, there is increasing interest in the study of individual differences in sensory perception and the contribution of such variations in perception to the emergence of psychiatric symptoms more generally (eg, in ADHD, anorexia nervosa). [19][20][21] Thus, our finding of enhanced sensory sensitivity in individuals with SE in the absence of an autism spectrum disorder is notable. The manner in which sensory sensitivities relate to psychiatric symptoms is unknown; however, 1 hypothesis is that psychiatric symptoms are reactions to these intense perceptual and experiential experiences (eg, anxiety in reaction to loud noises) or, alternatively, attempts to regulate the intensity of these experiences (eg, food selectivity or a generalized need for sameness as attempts to limit sensory intensity).…”

Emotion generation and regulation in anorexia nervosa: A systematic review and meta-analysis of self-report data

“…Six studies examined emotional awareness following recovery. Rates of alexithymia are reported to be halved (Beales & Dolton, 2000), but generally, alexithymia does not decrease in line with symptom decrease post-treatment (Schmidt, Jiwany, & Treasure, 1993) or compared to weight restored comparisons (Merwin et al, 2013). Where improvements have been observed, they appear to become non-significant after controlling for depression (Beadle et al, 2013;Subic-Wrana, Bruder, Thomas, Lane, & Köhle, 2005).…”

The Clinical Significance of Posterior Insular Volume in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa

“…Individuals with AN also report more intrusive sensory and interoceptive symptoms whether currently ill or weight-restored relative to healthy controls, intimating that they experience such signals as aberrant (18). This somatic sensitivity was positively associated with an evaluative measure of body dissatisfaction, suggesting that interoceptive signals and more top-down evaluative judgments of the body might be inter-related and further, that dietary restriction was, in part, motivated by a desire to suppress sensory sensitivity (18, 19). …”