ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: A recent meta-review of attentional bias research in eating disorders suggests that meta-analyses and systematic reviews include many low-quality and underpowered studies (Stott et al., 2021). As such, we examined whether published research examining the link between attentional bias, using the emotional Stroop task, and eating disorders among women with eating disorders has evidential value (ruling out selective reporting of a statistically significant effect) using a p-curve analysis. A p-curve analysis plots statisticall significant p-values onto a curve from .01 to .05 to examine its distribution. We hypothesized that the p-curve would be flat, indicating no true effect. METHOD: The hypothesis, database search strategy, and data analytic approach were pre-registered. The inclusion criteria were reports that compared control and eating disorder groups, reported inferential statistics, and that used body shape/weight or general threat target words. RESULTS: Fifty published reports were included in the p-curve analyses. Unexpectedly, the half and full p-curves were significantly right-skewed, indicating evidential value. However, the results were not robust to the exclusion of the seven lowest p-values and on average, reports were underpowered. There were also 18 reports with null results (they had a p-value greater than .05), which precluded their inclusion in the p-curve analyses. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that most of the evidence from research examining attentional biases using the emotional Stroop task among women with an eating disorder or with elevated eating disorder symptoms is underpowered and so should be interpreted with considerable caution. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE: Concerns have been raised about the low quality of research examining attentional biases among women with eating disorders using the emotional Stroop task. In the current research, we observed that the evidential value of primary research reporting differences between women with and without eating disorders was equivocal and had low statistical power. These results can guide researchers towards conducting more rigorous research on attentional biases among people with eating disorders.
OBJETIVO: Una meta-revisión reciente de la investigación del sesgo atencional en los trastornos de la conducta alimentaria sugiere que los metaanálisis y las revisiones sistemáticas incluyen muchos estudios de baja calidad y con poco poder estadístico (Stott et al., 2021). Como tal, examinamos si la investigación publicada que examina el vínculo entre el sesgo atencional, el uso de la tarea de Stroop emocional y los trastornos de la conducta alimentaria entre mujeres con trastornos alimentarios tiene valor de evidencia (descartando el informe selectivo de un efecto estadísticamente significativo) mediante un análisis de curva-p. Un análisis de curva-p traza p valores significativos en una curva de .01 a .05 para examinar su distribución. Planteamos la hipótesis de que la curva-p sería plana, lo que indica que no hay un efecto verdadero. MÉTODO: La hipótesis, la estrategia de búsqueda en la base de datos y el enfoque analítico de datos fueron pre-registrados. Los criterios de inclusión fueron informes que compararon grupos control y de trastornos de la conducta alimentaria, informaron estadísticas inferenciales y que utilizaron palabras clave de figura/peso corporal o de amenaza general. RESULTADOS: Cincuenta estudios publicados fueron incluidos en los análisis de la curva-p. Inesperadamente, las curvas-p medias y completas estaban significativamente sesgadas a la derecha, lo que indica un valor de evidencia. Sin embargo, los resultados no fueron robustos para la exclusión de los siete p valores más bajos y, en promedio, los reportes tuvieron poca potencia. También hubo 18 reportes con resultados nulos (tenían un p valor mayor que .05), lo que impidió su inclusión en los análisis de la curva-p. DISCUSIÓN: Los hallazgos sugieren que la mayor parte de la evidencia de la investigación que examina los sesgos atencionales utilizando la tarea de Stroop emocional entre las mujeres con un trastorno de la conducta alimentaria o con síntomas elevados del trastorno alimentario tiene poco poder y, por lo tanto, debe interpretarse con mucha precaución.
