The Role of Executive Control on Weight: A Study on Anorexia Nervosa and Obesity

Quaedvlieg, Nicola (2021) The Role of Executive Control on Weight: A Study on Anorexia Nervosa and Obesity. Master thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

Previous research has shown that Executive Control (EC) can affect people’s craving for and their consumption of food. Given that both Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and obesity are health concerns related to improper amounts of food intake, EC could help explain the dysfunctional eating patterns of people with AN and obesity. Therefore, the current research examined the relationship between EC and obesity, AN, and healthy weight. Additionally, the role of the goal to lose weight on the level of EC for people with obesity was explored, given some theoretical underpinning for such an association. For these analyses, a cross-sectional design was applied and in the datasets, a group of people with obesity (n = 51) and AN (n = 69) were both matched to a group of healthy-weight individuals (n = 119) on their scholastic level, age, and gender. EC scores of all groups were calculated based on the performance on the Attentional Network Task (ANT). Through the analysis, no evidence was found to suggest that people with AN, obesity or a healthy weight differ in their level of EC. Similarly, no evidence was found that indicates that the goal to lose weight for people with obesity is correlated with their EC levels. Therefore, based on this study, no evidence suggests that EC plays a role in the onset, development, and maintenance of AN or obesity. Importantly, however, the lack of statistical significance could also be due to a lack of statistical power, which should be investigated in future research.

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Jonker, N.C.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	Clinical Psychology (CP) [Master Psychology]
Date Deposited:	14 Dec 2021 13:43
Last Modified:	14 Dec 2021 13:43
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/14

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