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Association Splitting: feasibility study of a novel technique to reduce weight and shape concerns

Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity volume 19, pages 153–158 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Weight and shape concerns are core aspects of eating disorders and can have an intrusive and obsessive character. Such thoughts play an important role in the development and maintenance of eating disorders and seem to be a result of dysfunctional cognitive networks. Association Splitting, a novel intervention for obsessive–compulsive disorders, targets such dysfunctional networks.

Aims

To adapt Association Splitting for the reduction of weight- and shape-related cognitions in students with high weight and shape concerns.

Methods

Thirteen students with high weight and shape concerns were recruited and ten completed assessments before and after using the Association Splitting approach. Self-reported weight and shape concerns, eating behaviours and obsessive thinking were assessed. Changes between the two time points were analysed.

Results

After using Association Splitting, participants reported lower weight and shape concerns, reduced drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction and lower levels of eating disorder-related behaviours. The technique was perceived as helpful by 70 % of the participants.

Conclusion

Association Splitting is a feasible approach to reducing weight and shape concerns and might be a useful addition to the treatment or prevention of eating disorders.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Specialist Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health award to the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Eating Disorders, PO77, King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK

    Peter Musiat & Ulrike Schmidt

  2. Arbeitsgruppe Klinische Neuropsychologie, Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

    Steffen Moritz

  3. Institut für Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Corinna Jacobi

Authors
  1. Peter Musiat
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  2. Steffen Moritz
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  3. Corinna Jacobi
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  4. Ulrike Schmidt
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Correspondence to Peter Musiat.

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Musiat, P., Moritz, S., Jacobi, C. et al. Association Splitting: feasibility study of a novel technique to reduce weight and shape concerns. Eat Weight Disord 19, 153–158 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-014-0109-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-014-0109-4

Keywords

  • Eating disorders
  • Weight concerns
  • Attentional bias modification
  • Association splitting
  • Brain-directed