Network psychometrics of psychological symptoms in a sample at high risk of eating disorder.

Background: Network analysis (NA) is an innovative psychometric approach that allows investigate the impact and influence (“centrality”) of psychological variables and/or symptoms in a given population. This framework has been enthusiastically adopted in eating disorders (ED) research to model the complexity typical of these conditions. However, NA has been adopted almost exclusively to study acute ED presentations, while scarce attention has been paid to prevention purposes in high-risk populations. Methods: The present study examined the network built from the data of 78 individuals at risk of developing an ED, most of whom are female (86.9%). The study sample was obtained from the general population through an online questionnaire that investigated food restriction, concern for nutrition and weight and body shape through EDE-Q, emotional, psychological and social well-being through MHC-SF, levels of anxiety, depression and stress through DASS-21, psychological inflexibility through AAQ-2 and rational and irrational beliefs through ABS2-SF. Results: Results show higher centrality for manifestations of non-specific stress and negative mood, while the cognitive and behavioral symptomatology typical of ED appeared at the periphery of the network, implying a less relevant role. Conclusion: It would therefore seem that in the prodromal stages of ED, stress and depression have a greater impact on the general mental health of the individual compared to ED specific symptomatology. It might thus be important to address underlying psychological distress in populations at risk to prevent progressing to the acute stage of the disorder. Data is still being collected and up-to-date data will be presented at the symposium.