Journal of Child and Adolescent Behavior
Open Access

Research Article

A Systematic Review of Central Coherence in Young People with Anorexia Nervosa

¹ King’s College London (KCL), Psychological Medicine, Section of Eating Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, United King

² South London and Maudsley NHS Trust Eating Disorders Adult National Service, United Kingdom,

³ Illia State University, Department of Psychology, Georgia

*Corresponding Author:

Katie Lang
Institute of Psychiatry
Psychological Medicine
Section of Eating Disorders
PO59, King’s College London
London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
E-mail: kate.tchanturia@kcl.ac.uk

Received Date: May 09, 2014; Accepted Date: June 06, 2014; Published Date: June 13, 2014

Citation: Lang K, Tchanturia K (2014) A Systematic Review of Central Coherence in Young People with Anorexia Nervosa. J Child Adolesc Behav 2:140. doi:10.4172/2375-4494.1000140

Copyright: © 2014 Lang K, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Objectives: It is hypothesised that Weak Central Coherence (superior attention to detail with poorer bigger picture thinking) is a possible endophenotype for Anorexia Nervosa (AN). Currently the neuropsychological profile of children and adolescents with AN in unclear. The present review aimed to summarise the available literature with regards to the central coherence abilities of children and adolescents with AN, and clarify their neuropsychological profile. Method: The search found seven eligible studies. Meta-analyses were not possible due the variation in tasks used. Results: Evidence of less efficient global processing in children with AN was observed in a number of studies. The strongest evidence was observed from studies using the Rey Osterrieth Complex Figures Test (ROCFT). A visual comparison of ROCFT from child and adult AN studies highlighted similarities in global processing profiles. Conclusions: Evidence of inefficient global processing was observed across a number of studies. However methodological flaws in the current literature were highlighted and made interpretation difficult. These are discussed and recommendations for future research are made.

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