Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Research Scholarships - Master's program

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) has one of the highest mortality rates of all mental disorders. Current psychotherapy for this psychopathology relies mostly on the cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) model, which postulates that it is the control over, and overvaluation of, eating, shape, and weight, that cause and maintain AN. Although outpatient CBT is considered among the most effective psychological treatments for AN, current patient outcomes are relatively poor, suggesting that our clinical framework of the disorder might not capture the full picture. Further developing the CBT model of AN to specify new cognitive targets may be a promising route towards improving the quality of psychotherapeutic interventions. This study proposes to integrate the construct of dysfunctional beliefs about losing control, which originates from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) research, in the CBT model of AN. Moreover, since the effect of said dysfunctional beliefs about losing control in OCD has recently been shown to be moderated by the fear of guilt, and given the limited literature on the role of guilt in AN overall, this study also seeks to investigate this construct in the context of AN. Participants (N = 59) from a clinical sample will be asked to complete a series of psychometric questionnaires. Regression analyses with moderation will be performed, as well as multiple regression analyses to investigate which specific cognitive (e.g., fear of weight gain) and behavioural (e.g., restrictive eating) symptoms of AN can best be predicted by the interaction between the fear of guilt and beliefs about losing control. Results from this study may inform future directions for clinical interventions by formally integrating new cognitive constructs in the theoretical framework of AN.