Introduction:

Eating disorders (TEA) are a set of psychiatric illnesses that occur through severely altered eating behaviour as well as associated thoughts and emotions. In this study, neuropsychological and emotional variables are measured, as well as eating behaviour in a sample of individuals with eating disorders and healthy individuals.

Material and methods:

The sample consisted of 88 female participants, 39 of them with eating disorders (TEA group, GTCA), and 49 without eating disorders (control group, GCTRL) with an age between 13 and 25 years. It has been used test such as DEX or EDI-3 to evaluate variables such as impulsivity and eating behaviour, among others.

Results and discussion:

The GTCA showed an obsession with thinness (p<0.034) and body dissatisfaction (p<0.02) higher than the GCTRL as well as a lower processing speed. In emotional variables, a higher degree of depression and apathetic state were observed. Patients with a BMI less than 18.5 presented higher levels of anxiety, lower central coherence and greater depressive state, so that the lower the weight, the worse the results. The correlation analysis showed that higher the level of depression, the higher the apathy and impulsivity, as well as alterations in eating behaviour, memory, attention and cognitive flexibility.

Conclusions:

Patients with eating disorders present more vulnerable emotional states where depression, apathy and impulsiveness stand out. Motor coordination, processing speed and visuospatial processing have also been correlated with worse results the greater the depressive states and impulsivity.

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