A Psychophysiologically Controlled Exposure Treatment of Severe Body Image Distortion in Eating Disorders

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pau Pérez Sales ◽  
Rosa Calvo Sagardoy ◽  
Teresa Ferrer Gila
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Body Image ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Exposure Treatment ◽  
Body Image Disorders ◽  
Controlled Exposure ◽  
Body Size Estimation ◽  
Image Problems

Although body image problems are a major prognostic factor in the course of eating disorders, its treatment has received little attention in the research literature. We present two psychophysiologically controlled cases of intensive exposure treatment with conflicting outcomes. Pre-post treatment assessments included measurements of body size estimation, body related avoidant attitudes and body dissatisfaction. In case 1, although dissatisfaction and avoidant attitudes decreased, body size overestimation remained basically unchanged. Case 2 did not improve. Psychophysiological recordings showed a covert avoidance of treatment stimuli. We discuss the pros and the cons of the treatment, and the implications for the use of exposure therapy in body image disorders.

Body-Size Estimation in Anorexia Nervosa

1995 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Molinari
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Body Size ◽  
The Body ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Image Perception ◽  
Pelvic Area ◽  
Body Size Estimation ◽  
Different Parts

The aim was to explore the body-image perception of a group of 20 hospitalised anorexic patients, aged 18 to 21 years, undergoing a period of treatment. The instrument used was the Askevold nonverbal perception test as modified by Allamani and colleagues in 1978 to assess perception of the dimensions of different parts of the body by exploiting the capacity to project them into space. The four parts were the head, the thoracic area, the abdominal area, and the pelvic area. Analysis of responses indicated that anorexic patients overestimated the abdominal and the pelvic areas much more than the 20 members of the control group (50% vs 30%). The areas of the head and thorax were perceived almost in their real dimensions by the anorexic patients but were underestimated by the control group.

Clinical Correlates of Body-Size Distortion

1993 ◽  
Vol 76 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1311-1319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés J. Pumariega ◽  
Carl R. Gustavson ◽  
Joan C. Gustavson ◽  
Sandra A. Black ◽  
Andrew R. Gustavson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Eating Attitudes ◽  
Clinical Group ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Size Distortion ◽  
Eating Disordered ◽  
Linear Relationships ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Body Size Estimation

Body-size distortion has been considered a central symptom of eating disorders. We studied 35 female eating-disordered patients and 85 controls using a computer-based body-size estimation technique. We have found almost identical linear relationships between body-size distortion and weight:height ratios in both groups. In the clinical group, distortion scores were not correlated with scores on the Eating Attitudes Test or Beck Depression Inventory but were negatively correlated with body dissatisfaction as measured on the Eating Disorder Inventory. These results raise further questions about the role of body-size distortion both as a diagnostic criterion and as a complicating phenomenon in eating disorders.

Body-Size Estimation in Eating Disorders Using Video Distortion on a Lif e-Size Screen

1997 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Probst ◽  
Walter Vandereycken ◽  
Herman van Coppenolle
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Body Size Estimation

Comparison of body size estimation in adolescents with different types of eating disorders

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 468-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora Schneider ◽  
Katja Frieler ◽  
Ernst Pfeiffer ◽  
Ulrike Lehmkuhl ◽  
Harriet Salbach-Andrae
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Body Size Estimation

Body Image Distortion in Bulimia Nervosa

1985 ◽  
Vol 147 (4) ◽  
pp. 408-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra A. Birtchnell ◽  
J. Hubert Lacey ◽  
Anne Harte
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Previous History ◽  
The Body ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Image Perception ◽  
Body Width ◽  
Duration Of Illness ◽  
Body Size Estimation ◽  
Visual Size

Body image perception was measured in 50 women with bulima nervosa and 19 age and weight matched female controls, using a visual size estimation apparatus. Both groups overestimated body widths, but not the width of a neutral object, and whilst there was a trend for bulimics to overestimate more than controls this did not reach significance. The part of the body most overestimated corresponded to the part most disliked in only a third of both groups. The bulimics without a previous history of anorexia nervosa overestimated body width more than those with such a history; this may be related to the fact that the former had a significantly greater weight index. Bulimics who were within 5% of mean-matched population weight overestimated body width less than the others, this difference reaching significance when compared with the heavier groups; a similar, but non-significant, trend was demonstrated in controls. This may be linked to a greater dissatisfaction with body size. Duration of illness, frequency of bingeing and self-induced vomiting were not shown significantly to alter body size estimation. The bulimics who completed a 10-session outpatient treatment programme subsequently demonstrated a significant decrease in overestimation of waist and hip width.

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