scholarly journals Increased plasticity of the bodily self in eating disorders

2011 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 819-828 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Eshkevari ◽  
E. Rieger ◽  
M. R. Longo ◽  
P. Haggard ◽  
J. Treasure
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Emotional Dysregulation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Drive For Thinness ◽  
Maintenance Factors ◽  
Self Objectification

BackgroundThe rubber hand illusion (RHI) has been widely used to investigate the bodily self in healthy individuals. The aim of the present study was to extend the use of the RHI to examine the bodily self in eating disorders (EDs).MethodThe RHI and self-report measures of ED psychopathology [the Eating Disorder Inventory – 3 (EDI-3) subscales of Drive for Thinness, Bulimia, Body Dissatisfaction, Interoceptive Deficits, and Emotional Dysregulation; the 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21); and the Self-Objectification Questionnaire (SOQ)] were administered to 78 individuals with an ED and 61 healthy controls.ResultsIndividuals with an ED experienced the RHI significantly more strongly than healthy controls on both perceptual (i.e. proprioceptive drift) and subjective (i.e. self-report questionnaire) measures. Furthermore, both the subjective experience of the RHI and associated proprioceptive biases were correlated with ED psychopathology. Approximately 23% of the variance for embodiment of the fake hand was accounted for by ED psychopathology, with interoceptive deficits and self-objectification significant predictors of embodiment.ConclusionsThese results indicate that the bodily self is more plastic in people with an ED. These findings may shed light on both aetiological and maintenance factors involved in EDs, particularly visual processing of the body, interoceptive deficits, and self-objectification.

scholarly journals Overcoming limitations of self-report: an assessment of fear of weight gain in anorexia nervosa and healthy controls using implicit association tests

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiana Borgers ◽  
Nathalie Krüger ◽  
Silja Vocks ◽  
Jennifer J. Thomas ◽  
Franziska Plessow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Weight Gain ◽  
Normal Weight ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Drive For Thinness ◽  
Implicit Association ◽  
Association Tests ◽  
Implicit Assessment ◽  
Fear Of Weight Gain

Abstract Background Fear of weight gain is a characteristic feature of anorexia nervosa (AN), and reducing this fear is often a main target of treatment. However, research shows that 20% of individuals with AN do not report fear of weight gain. Studies are needed that evaluate the centrality of fear of weight gain for AN with a method less susceptible to deception than self-report. Methods We approximated implicit fear of weight gain by measuring implicit drive for thinness using implicit association tests (IATs). We asked 64 participants (35 AN, 29 healthy controls [HCs]) to categorize statements as pro-dieting vs. non-dieting and true vs. false in a questionnaire-based IAT, and pictures of underweight vs. normal-weight models and positive vs. negative words in a picture-based IAT using two response keys. We tested for associations between implicit drive for thinness and explicitly reported psychopathology within AN as well as group differences between AN and HC groups. Results Correlation analyses within the AN group showed that higher implicit drive for thinness was associated with more pronounced eating disorder-specific psychopathology. Furthermore, the AN group showed a stronger implicit drive for thinness than HCs in both IATs. Conclusion The results highlight the relevance of considering fear of weight gain as a continuous construct. Our implicit assessment captures various degrees of fear of weight gain in AN, which might allow for more individually tailored interventions in the future.

A quantitative study of body-related attitudes in patients with anorexia and bulimia nervosa

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 961-969 ◽  
Author(s):  
David I. Ben-Tovim ◽  
M. Kay Walker
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Bulimia Nervosa ◽  
Quantitative Study ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Large Sample ◽  
Weight And Shape Concerns ◽  
Body Attitudes ◽  
Extreme Responses ◽  
Diverse Groups

SynopsisThe Ben-Tovim Walker Body Attitudes Questionnaire (BAQ) is a psychometrically sound self-report instrument for assessing women's attitudes towards their own bodies. The BAQ responses of a large sample of patients with eating disorders (ED) diagnosed in accordance with DSM-III-R criteria were compared with those from a normative population and from diverse groups of psychiatrically and physically ill patients. The ED group was distinct, and showed extreme responses in the area of weight and shape concerns. But a better discrimination between the ED and other populations was achieved using subscales that related to ‘body disparagement’ (an intense loathing of the body) and ‘attractiveness’, rather than to weight and shape concerns. ED patients may have a more pervasive disturbance in body-related attitudes than is currently widely accepted. Patients with anorexia and bulimia nervosa showed very similar attitudes despite the symptomatic differences between the groups.

scholarly journals Social anxiety in the eating disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (15) ◽  
pp. 2477-2491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jess Kerr-Gaffney ◽  
Amy Harrison ◽  
Kate Tchanturia
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Comorbid Conditions ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Meta Analyses

AbstractSocial anxiety disorder is one of the most common comorbid conditions in eating disorders (EDs). The aim of the current review and meta-analysis is to provide a qualitative summary of what is known about social anxiety (SA) in EDs, as well as to compare levels of SA in those with EDs and healthy controls. Electronic databases were systematically searched for studies using self-report measures of SA in ED populations. In total, 38 studies were identified, 12 of which were included in the meta-analyses. For both anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa, there were significant differences between ED groups and HCs, with medium to large effect sizes. Findings from the qualitative review indicate that levels of SA are similar across the ED diagnoses, and SA improves with treatment in AN. In addition, high levels of SA are associated with more severe ED psychopathology, but not body mass index. These findings add to the wider literature on socio-emotional functioning in EDs, and may have implications for treatment strategies.

Implicit Mental Motor Imagery Task Demonstrates a Distortion of the Body Schema in Patients With Eating Disorders

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 715-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliann B. Purcell ◽  
Samantha R. Winter ◽  
Caitlin M. Breslin ◽  
Nicole C. White ◽  
Michael R. Lowe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Mental Image ◽  
Body Schema ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Treatment Center ◽  
Imagery Task ◽  
Healthy Control ◽  
Explicit Comparison

AbstractObjectives: A rich body of literature has established the role of body image distortion and dissatisfaction in the development and maintenance of eating disorders. However, many of the currently used techniques require explicit comparison of the person’s body to an external stimulus. As the body schema is a largely unconscious construct, explicit comparison tasks may reflect a proxy, rather than the body schema itself. Methods: Here we use an implicit mental motor imagery (MMI) task to interrogate the body schema in healthy control participants (N=40) and participants at a residential eating disorder treatment center (N=42). By comparing the time it takes to imagine making a movement along a part of the body to the time it takes to actually make the same movement, we were able to assess participants’ mental image of their body (i.e., body schema). Results: We found that participants with eating disorders, but not healthy controls, exhibited distortions of the body schema such that they believed their abdomen, buttocks, and thighs to be larger than they really are. Additionally, the MMI task used here provided information above and beyond traditional self-report measures (i.e., Body Shape Questionnaire). Together the MMI task and traditional measures provide the most information. Conclusions: Findings using the novel MMI task are in line with the literature; participants with eating disorders consider themselves to be larger than they truly are. Taken together, results of this study suggest that MMI tasks provide complementary information to traditional self-report measures. (JINS, 2018, 22, 000–000)

scholarly journals A mixed-methods approach to conceptualizing friendships in anorexia nervosa

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0254110
Author(s):  
Nandini Datta ◽  
Molly Foukal ◽  
Savannah Erwin ◽  
Hannah Hopkins ◽  
Kate Tchanturia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Care Seeking ◽  
Drive For Thinness ◽  
Attachment Figure ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach

Background Individuals with anorexia nervosa have reported feelings of loneliness, social anhedonia, and interpersonal difficulties. This study sought to clarify the nature of interpersonal relationships in adults with anorexia, which may help improve existing interventions while also facilitating the attainment of something that might compete with the drive for thinness: friendships. Methods The present study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate friendship experiences in three groups: anorexia (n = 27), participants with a history of anorexia who are weight restored (n = 20), and healthy controls (n = 24). Thematic analysis was used to isolate the most prevalent themes that emerged from an open-ended interview of experiencing friendships in a subset of participants. Three self-report questionnaires investigating friendship valuation and attachment styles were also administered. Results 11 unique themes emerged in the data: social comparison, reciprocity, trust, fear of negative evaluation, perceived skills deficit, logistical barriers, reliability, identity issue, low interest, similarity, and conflict avoidance. Only 17% of those with anorexia reported experiencing friendships as positive, relative to 82% of healthy controls and 52% of weight restored participants. Lastly, on self-report measures, participants with anorexia reported greater reliance on themselves versus others, greater use of care-seeking behaviors, and more fear/anger at the thought of losing an attachment figure (p < .05 in all cases). Conclusion Results suggest that individuals with anorexia have particular challenges which interfere with the formation and maintenance of friendships, such as viewing friendships negatively and struggling with social comparisons in friendships. Assessing and addressing barriers to intimacy may motivate those with anorexia to relinquish dangerous symptoms that maintain the illness.

Self-Report Measures of Discrete Emotions

2007 ◽  
pp. 330-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Dillard ◽  
L. Shen
Keyword(s):  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
The State ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
Discrete Emotions ◽  
Signal Value ◽  
Source Of Information

According to appraisal theories of emotion, negative emotions arise from the perception that the environment is in an incongruent relationship with the individual’s goals (Dillard, 1997; Frijda, 1986; Lazarus, 1991). In contrast, when an individual judges that the current environment is likely to facilitate his or her goals, positive emotions follow (Frijda, 1986; Lazarus, 1991). However, both within and across these broad categories, individual emotions can be discriminated along several lines (Frijda, 1986; Lazarus, 1991; Oatley, 1992; Roseman, Weist, & Swartz, 1994; Scherer, 1984). First, emotions vary in terms of their signal value (Table 1, column 2). That is, emotions are a source of information regarding the state of the person-environment relationship. For example, surprise follows from the perception of novelty in the environment and registers that perception in conscious awareness (Frijda, 1986; Lazarus, 1991; Oatley, 1992; Roseman et al., 1994; Scherer, 1984). Emotions also signal the mobilization of psychological and physiological resources correspondent to that person-environment relationship. The subjective experience of an emotion also relays this information to consciousness. In this sense, an emotion may be viewed as a summary readout of the changes taking place in the body (Buck, 1997).

scholarly journals Autonomy and Submissiveness as Cognitive and Cultural Factors Influencing Eating Disorders in Italy and Sweden: An Exploratory Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Sassaroli ◽  
Guido Veronese ◽  
Lauri Nevonen ◽  
Francesca Fiore ◽  
Franceso Centorame ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Drive For Thinness ◽  
Cultural Transition ◽  
Parental Criticism ◽  
Swedish Sample ◽  
Italian Women ◽  
Italian Sample

The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the correlation between cultural and psychological factors in relation to predicting eating disorders in two different non-clinical Italian (n = 61) and Swedish (n = 31) female populations, thought to have different cultures and lifestyles. The Swedish sample would reflect an emancipated model of women pursuing autonomy and freedom but also an ideal of thinness, while the Italian sample would reflect a difficult transition from traditional submissiveness to modern autonomy. Both groups completed self-report instruments assessing cultural values (e.g., collectivism and individualism) and features of eating disorders (e.g., drive for thinness, bulimia, body dissatisfaction, self-esteem, parental criticism and perfectionism). Swedish women were found to display higher levels of bulimia, perfectionism, and individualism than Italian women, while regression analysis showed that in the Italian sample high levels of collectivism were correlated with measures of EDs. The results support the hypothesis that EDs are linked with both modern values of autonomy, independence and emancipation, and situations of cultural transition in which women are simultaneously exposed to traditional models of submission and opportunities for emancipation and autonomy.

Body Image in Bariatric surgery candidates

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S548-S548
Author(s):  
M.L. Rosta ◽  
F. Porfiri ◽  
A. Zaccaria ◽  
G. Giannetti ◽  
M. Scoppetta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bariatric Surgery ◽  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Body Image ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Young Female ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Psychopathological Symptoms ◽  
Body Uneasiness

IntroductionBody image is a multidimensional concept that has assumed a significant role in eating disorders in which affective and perceptual distortions have been documented. Obesity is not a psychiatric disorder according to DSM-5 but several studies highlighted the presence of body image diseases in obesity.ObjectivesThe aim of this work is to evaluate the presence of body uneasiness in obese seeking for Bariatric surgery and to correlate it with psychopathological symptoms, psychosocial and anamnestic variables.MethodsFrom June 2014 to June 2016, we enrolled 537 Bariatric surgery candidates. Body image was investigated using the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT-A), a 34-item self-report questionnaire which measures weight phobia (WP), body image concerns (BIC), avoidance (A), compulsive self-monitoring (CSM), detachment and depersonalization (D). Psychopathological symptoms and personality traits have been evaluated using SCL90R and MMPI-2.ResultsDescriptive analyzes showed that BUT subscales were altered in most of our sample. Correlations of Pearson underlined significant associations between BUT subscales and SCL90R subscales. No correlation was found between BMI, marital status and BUT scores, while young, female and unemployed people had more difficulties with body.ConclusionsOur data highlight the presence of considerable body uneasiness in obese, correlated with the severity of psychiatric symptoms but independent from the severity of obesity. This seems to reflect the mind-body split detected both in obesity and in eating disorders. Therefore, a multidisciplinary integrated approach including psychological work on cognitive, emotional and perceptual aspects of body image will help patients to improve coping with corporeal changes achieved through surgery.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptomatology: Which factors interfere with sexuality in women with eating disorders?

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 1526-1535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Tolosa-Sola ◽  
Katarina Gunnard ◽  
Cristina Giménez Muniesa ◽  
Laura Casals ◽  
Antoni Grau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Eating Disorder ◽  
Body Dissatisfaction ◽  
Clinical Group ◽  
Sexual Dysfunctions ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Drive For Thinness ◽  
Relevant Aspect ◽  
Eating Disorder Symptomatology ◽  
The Relationship

Body dissatisfaction is a relevant aspect in both eating disorders and sexuality. Using Stice’s model, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between these variables in eating disorder patients compared with healthy controls. Statistically significant correlations between body dissatisfaction and sexuality were found in the whole sample. The clinical group had higher rates of body dissatisfaction and sexual impairment. Within the clinical group, the participants with a greater drive for thinness showed higher sexual dysfunctions. These results suggest that sexuality should be systematically explored in eating disorders. Higher rates of drive for thinness may be associated with greater sexual impairment.

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