Be kind to your eating disorder patients: the impact of positive and negative feedback on the explicit and implicit self-esteem of female patients with eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE

Lack of self-esteem may play an important role in the development of eating disorders (ED). This study investigated the differential impact of positive and negative feedback on implicit and explicit self-esteem in women with an ED (N=25) as compared to women without an ED (N=29).

METHOD: False feedback (positive or negative) was given on participant's performance on a specifically developed intellectual test. Before and after the performance, explicit and implicit self-esteem was measured.

RESULTS

On the explicit measure ED patients reacted congruently with the nature of the feedback. On the implicit measure only ED patients responded to the positive feedback with an improvement of self-esteem, with no effect for negative feedback. The control group was unaffected by either feedback. Furthermore, no correlation was observed between the explicit and implicit measures, a finding suggesting that these measurements tap different constructs.

CONCLUSION

Positive feedback affects implicit self-esteem of female patients with eating disorders. The results underline the importance of positively approaching women with ED.