Theory of mind, empathy and prosocial behaviour in eating disorders
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Social functioning in eating disorders: an evaluation of theory of mind, empathy, reciprocity and pro-social behaviour.
IRAS ID
240261
Contact name
Valentina Cardi
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
This project will assess different aspects of social functioning in people with eating disorders and healthy controls. Theory of mind (i.e. ability to understand other people’s intentions), empathy (ability to recognise and “experience” other people’s emotions), prosocial behaviour and reciprocity (i.e. mirroring of hand movements) will be measured using four brief computerised tasks. Questionnaires assessing eating disorder symptoms, mood and anxiety and loneliness will also be completed. One-hundred twenty participants (60 participants with a lifetime diagnosis of eating disorders and 60 healthy controls who never received a psychiatric diagnosis) will be invited to participate in the study and reimbursed £10 for their participation. The overall goal of this study is to highlight which areas of social functioning are impaired in patients with eating disorders and which difficulties in particular are related to eating disorder symptoms. The findings from this study will be used to plan for treatment modules to remediate these key difficulties.
REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/0482
Date of REC Opinion
13 Apr 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion