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Investigating the relationship between orthorexia nervosa and autistic traits in a university population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2021

Barbara Carpita Open the ORCID record for Barbara Carpita [Opens in a new window] ,
Ivan Mirko Cremone ,
Giulia Amatori ,
Andrea Cappelli ,
Antonio Salerni ,
Gabriele Massimetti ,
Davide Borgioli ,
Claudia Carmassi Open the ORCID record for Claudia Carmassi [Opens in a new window] ,
Rossano Massai  and
Liliana Dell’Osso
Barbara Carpita*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Ivan Mirko Cremone
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Giulia Amatori
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Andrea Cappelli
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Antonio Salerni
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Gabriele Massimetti
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Davide Borgioli
Affiliation:
Atheneum Informatics System, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Claudia Carmassi
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Rossano Massai
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Liliana Dell’Osso
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
*
*Author for correspondence: Barbara Carpita, MD Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Background

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is an emerging condition featuring restrictive eating behaviors on the basis of subjective beliefs about food healthiness. Many authors have stressed the similarities between ON and anorexia nervosa (AN) in both cognitive and behavioral patterns. Despite that, while the link between AN and female autism presentations is well known in the literature, no study has yet investigated the relationship between ON and autism spectrum. This work aims to investigate the relationship between ON and autistic traits in a university population.

Methods

An e-mail invitation was sent to all the students and University workers of University of Pisa. Subjects were asked to fulfill the ORTO-15 and the Adult Autism Subthreshold spectrum (AdAS spectrum) questionnaires.

Results

A total of 2426 subjects joined the survey: 623 subjects (26.3%) reported a score associated with significant orthorexic symptoms according to ORTO-15 (ON group), while 1789 subjects (73.7%) did not report ON symptomatology and were considered as healthy controls (HC). The ON group scored significantly higher on almost all AdAS spectrum domains. Moreover, being female and scoring higher on AdAS spectrum were statistically predictive factors for the presence of ON symptomatology. Among AdAS spectrum domains, higher scores on AdAS spectrum inflexibility and adherence to routine and restricted interests and rumination domains, as well as lower scores on verbal communication domain, were statistically predictive of orthorexic symptoms.

Conclusions

Our findings highlight an overlap between ON and autism spectrum psychopathology. Further studies are needed to clarify the relationship between restrictive eating disorders and female autism phenotypes.

Keywords

Orthorexiaeating disordersautism spectrumgender differencesfemale autism phenotype
Type
Original Research
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 27 , Issue 5 , October 2022 , pp. 613 - 620
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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