Clinical trial NCT03759444: Perception of Time by Individuals With Eating Disorders
Official title: Stuck in Painful Time: Perception of Time by Individuals With Eating Disorders
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Feeding and Eating Disorders
Keywords: Perception of time
Eating disorders
Ego-syntonicity
Existential suffering
Psychotherapy
Lead sponsor: Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-11-30
Enrollment: 60
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 40
Standard ages: ADULT
Observational model: CASE_ONLY
Time perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: The clinical and control groups did not differ significantly in terms of age (t = 1.64, p = 0.100) or height (t = -0.54, p = 0.590). Obviously, significant differences were found in terms of weight and BMI (t = -2.93 and t = -3.03, p \< 0.01, respectively): women with eating disorders were much lighter (M = 50.78, SD = 13.05) and had a much lower BMI (M = 18.3, SD = 4.49) than healthy controls (M = 60.43, SD = 12.48, and M = 21.62, SD = 3.98, respectively). The mean duration of eating disorder was 8.9 years (SD = 5.23).

Brief summary: The objective of the study was to determine how patients with eating disorders perceive time, and in particular whether their experience of time differs from that of healthy individuals. Another goal was to examine the relationship between the mood of the subjects and their time perspective. The subjects were 30 women with eating disorders and 30 age-matched healthy female controls. The three measures applied were: the Time Metaphors Questionnaire by Sobol-Kwapinska, the Time Perspective Inventory by Zimbardo, and the UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist (UMACL) by Matthews et al.

Detailed description: The objective of the study was to determine how individuals with eating disorders perceive time, and in particular whether their experience of time differs from that of healthy persons. Another aim was to investigate the relationship between the mood of the subjects and their time perception as well as determine a variable moderating that relationship.

First, it was expected that eating-disordered patients experience time as a rather aversive and unfriendly force marked with chaos and void, in contrast to healthy subjects, who were predicted to treat it as something more friendly, appreciating its subtleties and the significance of the moment (Hypothesis 1).

Moreover, it was expected that individuals with eating disorders would exhibit a more negative temporal orientation, whether past or present, as compared to healthy controls, who would reveal more positive past, present, or future orientations (Hypothesis 2).

Finally, it was predicted that eating disorders moderate the relationship between mood and time perception (Hypothesis 3).

The study encompassed 30 women with eating disorders (19 patients with anorexia nervosa and 11 patients with bulimia nervosa) and 30 age-matched normal healthy controls. The clinical group consisted of patients of the residential eating disorder therapeutic center "Drzewo zycia" in Malawa as well as some outpatient clinics in Poland; some of the patients were not being actively treated at the time of the study. The controls included psychology students from two Polish universities (the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University and the University of Finance and Management, both in Warsaw), as well as researchers and educators who volunteered for the study.

The three measures applied in the study were:

* The Time Metaphors Questionnaire by Sobol-Kwapinska;
* Time Perspective Inventory by Zimbardo (Zimbardo \& Boyd, 1999; see also Zimbardo \& Boyd, 2009);
* The UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist (UMACL) (Matthews at al.; see also Gorynska, 2005).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Clinical diagnosis of eating disorders (anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa)
* Age between 18 and 40 years

Exclusion Criteria:

* diagnosis of other (except eating disorders) mental disorder
* Age below 18 years and above 40 years

Primary outcomes:
measure: The Time Metaphors Questionnaire by Sobol-Kwapińska
timeFrame: 1.05.2014-30.06.2017
measure: Time Perspective Inventory by Zimbardo
timeFrame: 1.05.2014-30.06.2017
measure: Transcendental Future Time Perspective Inventory
timeFrame: 1.05.2014-30.06.2017
measure: The UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist (UMACL) by Matthews et al.
timeFrame: 1.05.2014-30.06.2017
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University
name: Malgorzata Starzomska, dr
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Gorynska E. UMACL Mood Adjective Checklist by G. Matthews, A.G. Chamberlain, D.M. Jones. Pracownia Testow Psychologicznych Polskiego Towarzystwa Psychologicznego, Warszawa, 2005.
citation: Matthews G, Jones DM, Chamberlain AG. Refining the measurement of mood: the UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist. British Journal of Psychology 81(1): 17-42, 1990.
citation: Sobol-Kwapinska M. TMQ Time Metaphor Questionnaire: Manual. Pracownia Testow Psychologicznych PTP, Warszawa, 2008.
citation: Zimbardo P G, Boyd J. The time paradox. PWN, Warszawa, 2009.
citation: Zimbardo P, Boyd J. Putting time in perspective: a valid, reliable individual differences metric. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 77(6): 1271-1288, 1999.