scholarly journals Anomalous self-experience, body image disturbance, and eating disorder symptomatology in first-onset anorexia nervosa

Author(s):  
Lorenzo Moccia ◽  
Eliana Conte ◽  
Marianna Ambrosecchia ◽  
Delfina Janiri ◽  
Salvatore Di Pietro ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose Anorexia nervosa-restrictive subtype (AN-R) is a life-threatening disorder relying on behavioural abnormalities, such as excessive food restriction or exercise. Such abnormalities may be secondary to an “objectified” attitude toward body image and self. This is the first study exploring the impact of anomalous self-experience (ASEs) on abnormal body image attitude and eating disorder (ED) symptomatology in individuals with AN-R at onset. Methods We recruited Italian female participants, 40 with AN-R (mean age 18.3 ± 2.3) and 45 age and educational level-matched healthy controls (HCs) (mean age 18.2 ± 2.6). ASEs, body image attitude, and ED symptom severity were assessed through the examination of anomalous self-experience (EASE), the body uneasiness test (BUT), and the eating disorder examination questionnaire (EDE-Q), respectively. We conducted multivariate analysis of variance to investigate distribution patterns of variables of interest, and mediation analysis to test the effect of ASEs and body image on ED symptomatology. Results Individuals with AN-R scored higher than HCs on the EASE (p < .0001). A direct effect of ASEs on ED severity (p = 0.009; bootstrapped LLCI = 0.067, ULCI = 0.240) was found in AN-R. After modelling the effect of abnormal body image attitude, the relationship between EASE total score and ED symptomatology was significantly mediated by BUT (p = 0.002; bootstrapped LLCI = 0.001, ULCI = 0.172). Conclusion Although the exact pathways linking AN-R to self-disorder remain to be identified, a broader exploration of transdiagnostic features in AN, including explorations of different dimensions of self-experience and intersubjectivity, may shed further light on the clinical phenomenology of the disorder. Level of evidence Level III, case–control analytic study.

1993 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 469-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford W. Sharp

A woman aged 58 who has been blind since the age of nine months presented with major depression and a 40 year history of an eating disorder characterized by a restriction of food intake and body disparagement. The case is additional evidence that a specifically visual body image is not essential for the development of anorexia nervosa and supports the view that the concept of body image is unnecessary and unproductive in eating disorders. Greater emphasis should be placed on attitudes and feelings toward the body, and the possibility of an eating disorder should be considered in cases of older women with an atypical presentation.


1982 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 715-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirja Kalliopuska

Body-image disturbances are studied by the Draw-A-Person test given to the anorexia nervosa group of 32 and a control group of 30. The Machover scoring system was used. Two new scales were also constructed, the index of disturbed body image and the unity index of the body image. Machover's method differentiated groups from each other statistically significantly including the new ones: the unity index of body image made by Kalliopuska and Siimes in 1980 and Kalliopuska's index of disturbed body image in 1981. Factor analysis of items gave six factors: severe body-image disturbance, body-image adequacy, hostility, regression, unsureness and faltering in body image, and ego-identity problem. Body-image projections varied greatly as the nature of anorexia nervosa is multidimensional.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Onysk ◽  
Peggy Seriès

AbstractEating disorders are associated with one of the highest mortality rates among all mental disorders, yet there is very little research about them within the newly emerging and promising field of computational psychiatry. As such, we focus on investigating a previously unexplored, yet a core aspect of eating disorders – body image preoccupation. We continue a freshly opened debate about model-based learning in eating disorders and perform a study that utilises a two-step decision-making task and a reinforcement learning model to understand the effect of body image preoccupation on model-based learning in a subclinical eating disorder population, as recruited using Prolific. We find a significantly reduced model-based contribution in the body image disturbance task condition in the eating disorder group as compared to a healthy control. We propose a new digital biomarker that significantly predicts disordered eating, and body image issues.


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (15) ◽  
pp. 2584-2591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna E. Steinglass ◽  
Deborah R. Glasofer ◽  
Emily Walsh ◽  
Gabby Guzman ◽  
Carol B. Peterson ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundHabits are behavioral routines that are automatic and frequent, relatively independent of any desired outcome, and have potent antecedent cues. Among individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN), behaviors that promote the starved state appear habitual, and this is the foundation of a recent neurobiological model of AN. In this proof-of-concept study, we tested the habit model of AN by examining the impact of an intervention focused on antecedent cues for eating disorder routines.MethodsThe primary intervention target was habit strength; we also measured clinical impact via eating disorder psychopathology and actual eating. Twenty-two hospitalized patients with AN were randomly assigned to 12 sessions of either Supportive Psychotherapy or a behavioral intervention aimed at cues for maladaptive behavioral routines, Regulating Emotions and Changing Habits (REaCH).ResultsCovarying for baseline, REaCH was associated with a significantly lower Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI) score and significantly lower Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q) global score at the end-of-treatment. The end-of-treatment effect size for SRHI was d = 1.28, for EDE-Q was d = 0.81, and for caloric intake was d = 1.16.ConclusionsREaCH changed habit strength of maladaptive routines more than an active control therapy, and targeting habit strength yielded improvement in clinically meaningful measures. These findings support a habit-based model of AN, and suggest habit strength as a mechanism-based target for intervention.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Lin Toh ◽  
Sally A Grace ◽  
Susan L Rossell ◽  
David J Castle ◽  
Andrea Phillipou

Objectives: Anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder share a hallmark clinical feature of severe body image disturbance. This study aimed to document major demographic and clinical characteristics in anorexia nervosa versus body dysmorphic disorder, and it was the first to compare specific body parts related to body image dissatisfaction across these disorders directly. Methods: Anorexia nervosa ( n=26) and body dysmorphic disorder ( n=24) patients were administered a range of clinical measures, including key questions about the specificities of their body image concerns. Results: Results revealed increased psychiatric and personality co-morbidities in anorexia nervosa relative to body dysmorphic disorder. The anorexia nervosa group was mostly preoccupied with three body zones typically linked to weight concerns, whereas the body dysmorphic disorder group fixated on facial features, hair and skin. Conclusions: These findings may help inform differential diagnosis in complex cases and aid in the formulation of targeted interventions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Hargreaves

Research considering the benefits of Naturism on body image recently re-emerged after decades of neglect. The present study continued prior work assessing positive body image and went further adding an instrument used to assess Eating Disorder treatment efficacy expecting to benchmark naturists with very low symptomatology scores. Self-report Interoceptive testing was also employed to consider neurological underpinnings and benefits of their exceptional resilience. 43 naturists (37 male), average age 57, and 36 controls (21 male), average age 38, British origin, participated online. Utilizing the Body Appreciation Scale 2 and The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, naturists consistently, significantly achieved higher positive, and lower negative body image scores across all measures. Naturist results on the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness 2 across all dimensions were also persistently higher than controls. Naturist results confirm their position as a unique population demonstrating exceptionally high negative body image resilience, this coupled with potential advantageous neurological benefits that with further investigation could lead to naturism becoming a proactive mind-body therapy to help prevent eating disorders. Comprehensive future philosophical, phenomenological and longitudinal research options were also put forward.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cascino ◽  
Castellini ◽  
Stanghellini ◽  
Ricca ◽  
Cassioli ◽  
...  

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is characterized by body image distortion. From a phenomenological perspective, body image disturbance has been associated with a more profound disturbance encompassing disorders of the way persons experience their own body. The aim of this study was to disentangle the complex dynamics that connect the experience of one’s own body and self-identity to the psychopathological features of AN by applying a network analysis. Fifty-seven patients with AN restrictive subtype and 27 with AN binge–purging subtype participated in the study. Eating Disorders Inventory-2 and Identity and Eating Disorders subscores, measuring the embodiment dimensions, were included in the network. Two of the main dimensions of embodiment—feeling extraneous from one’s own body and feeling oneself through objective measures—were the nodes with the highest strength together with interoceptive awareness (IA). IA was a node included in several pathways connecting embodiment dimensions with most of the AN psychopathological dimensions. The centrality of the embodiment disorder suggests the importance of considering the body image disturbance in people with AN as resulting from their difficulty in experiencing inner states and as a tool to build its own self. This assumption may orient therapeutic interventions.


Author(s):  
Hafrún Kristjánsdóttir ◽  
Petra Sigurðardóttir ◽  
Sigurlaug Jónsdóttir ◽  
Guðlaug Þorsteinsdóttir ◽  
Jose Saavedra

The aim of this study was to analyse body image concerns and symptoms of eating disorders in elite Icelandic athletes according to their sex, and sport practiced. The participants were 755 athletes (24.8 ± 3.5 years in age) who compete at the highest possible level in Iceland. Representing 20 different sports, they were divided into five sports groups. Three questionnaires were used: the Body Shape Questionnaire to assess body image concerns; the Bulimia Test-Revised to assess the main symptoms of bulimia; and the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire to identify disordered eating attitudes and behaviours. A chi-squared test was used to analyse differences in prevalence of body image concern and eating disorders, a t-test for the differences between men and women, and a one-way ANOVA to compare the different sports. The main findings were that 17.9% of the athletes presented severe or moderate body image dissatisfaction, and 18.2% (25.3% of the women) were above the clinical cutoff for body image concern. Women’s scores were higher than men’s (whole sample and ball games) in all variables except restraint. These results seem to point to the existence of a real problem that athlete, coaches, doctors, and institutions need to take into account.


1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 695-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Strober ◽  
Irene Goldenberg ◽  
Jacqueline Green ◽  
Jennifer Saxon

SYNOPSISPerception of body size, subjective experience of body image distortions and differentiation of body concept in the human figure drawing were assessed in adolescent anorexia nervosa patients and controls shortly after hospital admission, and again 6 months later during the recuperative phase. Size estimation was not found to be a distinguishing variable, as both groups exhibited overestimation tendencies of comparable magnitude at both time periods. By contrast, experiences denoting estrangement from the body, insensitivity to body sensations, and weakness of body boundaries were more prevalent in anorexics, and persisted at high levels after frank symptoms of weight and eating disorder had subsided. Anorexics were also shown to depict the human figure with less differentiation relative to controls. Within the anorexic sample the presence of vomiting was linked to greater subjective experience of body image distortion, and such phenomena appear to be a more enduring feature in this subgroup. Overall, the results were viewed as lending support to the argument that defects in body image formation render the anorexic vulnerable to their manifest pathology, which is itself activated by maturational conflicts unique to adolescence.


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