Contributions of cognitive inflexibility to eating disorder and social anxiety symptoms
Open accessAbstract
Unlabelled Eating disorders and social anxiety are highly co-occurring. These disorders share fears of social evaluation, possibly maintained by similar cognitive content and styles, including an inability to adapt or flexibly respond to unexpected conditions. However, the role of cognitive inflexibility in eating disorders in relation to social anxiety has not been explored. Objective In this study, the link between eating disorder symptoms and cognitive inflexibility, while accounting for social anxiety, is examined. Method Participants (N=461) were undergraduates who completed the Detail and Flexibility Questionnaire 12-item Cognitive Rigidity subscale, the Eating Disorders Diagnostic Scale, and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale. Results Eating disorder symptoms and social anxiety were both positively correlated with cognitive inflexibility. After controlling for social anxiety, the relationship between eating disorder symptoms and cognitive inflexibility remained robust. Discussion Further examination of cognitive inflexibility in eating disorders and comorbid social anxiety in clinical samples is warranted. We suggest future directions for examining cognitive inflexibility as a trans-diagnostic construct important to eating disorders and frequently comorbid disorders, consistent with NIMH Research Domain Criteria.
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Cognitive rigidity has been associated as a key factor in anxiety disorders in nonautistic individuals, including obsessive compulsive disorder and social anxiety.
“Cognitive rigidity has been associated as a key factor in anxiety disorders in nonautistic individuals, including obsessive compulsive disorder [60] and social anxiety [61].”
From Autistic Cognition: Charting Routes to Anxiety (2021) · cites this paper as [61]
The Abstract’s Results report that social anxiety and cognitive inflexibility were positively correlated in 461 undergraduates, supporting the social-anxiety association attributed to citation [61]. The Methods and Discussion show that the study measured symptoms in undergraduates and calls for research in clinical samples; it does not establish cognitive rigidity as a key factor in diagnosed social anxiety disorder. The OCD portion is attached to citation [60], not this source. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Arlt, J., Yiu, A., Eneva, K., Taylor Dryman, M., Heimberg, R. G., & Chen, E. Y.
- Affiliations
- Temple University (US)
- Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple (US)
- Corresponding author
- Arlt, Jean
- Venue
- Eating Behaviors
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-04
- Volume
- 21
- Pages
- 30-32
- ISSN
- 1471-0153 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5670738
- OpenAlex
- W2209642717
- Cited by
- 45
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 1.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Eating Behaviors (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R34MH083914)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues
- Keywords
- cognitive inflexibility, eating disorders, social anxiety, cognitive rigidity, comorbidities
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety Disorders, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Cross-Sectional Studies, Fear, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Young Adult, Cognitive Dysfunction
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