Rowlands, KatieGrafton, BenCerea, SilviaSimic, MimaHirsch, ColetteCruwys, TeganYellowlees, RobynTreasure, JanetCardi, Valentina2023-03-190165-0327http://hdl.handle.net/1885/287161Background: Cognitive biases towards social stimuli have been identified as one of the putative modifiable mechanisms to remediate interpersonal difficulties in adolescents with mental disorders. However, evidence for these biases in adolescents with eating disorders is scarce. Methods: This study assessed interpersonal sensitivity, cognitive biases towards social stimuli, and quantity and quality of social group memberships in adolescents with eating disorders (n = 80), compared to healthy controls (n = 78), and examined whether a negative interpretation bias would mediate the relationship between interpersonal sensitivity, eating disorder symptoms and positive group memberships. Results: Adolescents with eating disorders displayed greater interpersonal awareness, negative interpretation biases of ambiguous social information and poorer quality relationships with their social groups compared to healthy controls. In a simple mediation model, interpersonal awareness predicted eating disorder symptoms, and this effect was partially mediated by a negative interpretation bias. Conclusions: Psychological interventions which aim to reduce a negative interpretation bias might help to reduce the severity of eating disorder symptoms in adolescents with eating disorders.VC, RY, CH and JT receive funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London.application/pdfen-AU© 2021 The authorsEating disorderCognitive biasAdolescentsSocial networks202110.1016/j.jad.2021.07.0132022-01-09