Critical incidents in anorexia nervosa: perspectives of those with a lived experience

Experiences of mimicry in eating disorders

BACKGROUND

People unknowingly mimic the behaviors of others, a process that results in feelings of affiliation. However, some individuals with eating disorders describe feeling "triggered" when mimicked. This study explores the effects of implicit non-verbal mimicry on individuals with a history of an eating disorder (ED-His) compared to healthy controls (HCs).

METHOD

Women (N = 118, n_ED-His = 31; M_age = 21 years) participated in a laboratory task with a confederate trained to either discreetly mimic (Mimicry condition) or not mimic (No-Mimicry condition) the mannerisms of the participant. Participants rated the likability of the confederate and the smoothness of the interaction.

RESULTS

Participants in the No-Mimicry condition rated the confederate as significantly more likable than in the Mimicry condition, and ED-His rated the confederate as more likable than HCs. ED-His in the Mimicry condition rated the interaction as less smooth than HCs, whereas this pattern was not found in the No-Mimicry condition. Among ED-His, longer disorder duration (≥ 3.87 years) was associated with less liking of a confederate who mimicked and more liking of a confederate who did not mimic.

CONCLUSIONS

We discuss the implications of these findings for interpersonal therapeutic processes and group treatment settings for eating disorders. Our study on subtle, nonverbal mimicry revealed differences in social behavior for women with a history of an eating disorder compared to healthy women. For participants with an eating disorder history, a longer duration of illness was associated with a worse pattern of affiliation, reflected in lower liking of a mimicker. Further research on how diverging processes of affiliation may function to perpetuate the chronicity of eating disorders and implications for treatment is needed.

Transformative eating disorder research: qualitative research considerations

This letter identifies the potential of qualitative eating disorder research to work within a transformative paradigm that naturalizes the state of living with an eating disorder. The number of qualitative research publications with persons living with eating disorders have increased, however, a substantive proportion of this qualitative research follows traditional research paradigms that are built upon the assumption that eating disorders signify a personal deficit. Transformative qualitative eating disorder research has potential to include those living with eating disorders in all stages of the research process to ensure that research leads to the de-stigmatization of eating disorders promoting health, wellbeing, and quality of life for persons living with eating disorders.