Deconstructing Planning Ability in Children and Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa

Weaknesses in planning by patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) have been noted (e.g., Zakzanis, Campbell, & Polsinelli, 2010 Zakzanis, K., Campbell, Z., & Polsinelli, A. (2010). Quantitative evidence for distinct cognitive impairment in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Journal of Neuropsychology, 4(1), 89–106. doi:10.1348/174866409x459674[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and are generally based on adults. This study explored D-KEFS Tower Test performance to better understand learning styles and strategies used by child and adolescent patients with AN compared to healthy controls. Overall, no significant differences were found in achievement; however, Item 5 predicted performance across harder items. The AN group was significantly faster to move their first disc suggesting patients with AN did not spend as much time planning their strategies for item completion. The findings of this study in conjunction with other studies investigating planning in AN may suggest the existence of subtle differences in learning style and strategy, such as faster initiation times, rather than gross planning differences. Further research is required to better understand the relationship between these subtle differences and clinical presentations.