Psychological and physiological reactivity to stress: an experimental study on bulimic patients, restrained eaters and controls

BACKGROUND: Binge eating behavior in bulimic patients is thought to play a crucial role in the regulation of psychophysiological arousal in stressful situations. Previous results suggest that interpersonal stress and achievement challenge are perceived as particularly stressful by bulimic individuals. It is not clear, however, whether bulimic individuals respond to stress with an increased desire to binge, and whether this increase is accompanied by higher psychophysiological reactivity compared to healthy controls.
METHODS: Twenty-seven patients with bulimia nervosa (DSM-IV), 27 restrained eaters, and 27 controls participated in two experimental sessions in which continuous measures of heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rat e, and ecectrodermal activity were monitored under conditions of achievement challenge (mental arithmetic, Stroop test) and interpersonal stress provoking feelings of loneliness and social rejection (film, imagery task). Ratings of desire to binge, negative mood, and hunger were obtained between experimental trials. Groups were matched for age and body mass index.
RESULTS: There was a marked difference in subjective ratings during interpersonal stress. Bulimic patients responded to the imagery task with increases in both desire to binge and hunger, whereas restrained eaters and controls showed no change. There were no substantial group differences in psychophysiological reactivity.
CONCLUSIONS: The dissociation between emotional responses and physiological activation may have important therapeutic implications.