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Frank GKW, Stoddard JJ, Brown T, Gowin J, Kaye WH. Weight gained during treatment predicts 6-month body mass index in a large sample of patients with anorexia nervosa using ensemble machine learning. Int J Eat Disord 2024; 57:1653-1667. [PMID: 38610100 DOI: 10.1002/eat.24208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 03/24/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study used machine learning methods to analyze data on treatment outcomes from individuals with anorexia nervosa admitted to a specialized eating disorders treatment program. METHODS Of 368 individuals with anorexia nervosa (209 adolescents and 159 adults), 160 individuals had data available for a 6-month follow-up analysis. Participants were treated in a 6-day-per-week partial-hospital program. Participants were assessed for eating disorder-specific and non-specific psychopathology. The analyses used established machine learning procedures combined in an ensemble model from support vector machine learning, random forest prediction, and the elastic net regularized regression with an exploration (training; 75%) and confirmation (test; 25%) split of the data. RESULTS The models predicting body mass index (BMI) at 6-month follow-up explained a 28.6% variance in the training set (n = 120). The model had good performance in predicting 6-month BMI in the test dataset (n = 40), with predicted BMI significantly correlating with actual BMI (r = .51, p = 0.01). The change in BMI from admission to discharge was the most important predictor, strongly correlating with reported BMI at 6-month follow-up (r = .55). Behavioral variables were much less predictive of BMI outcome. Results were similar for z-transformed BMI in the adolescent-only group. Length of stay was most predictive of weight gain in treatment (r = .56) but did not predict longer-term BMI. CONCLUSIONS This study, using an agnostic ensemble machine learning approach in the largest to-date sample of individuals with anorexia nervosa, suggests that achieving weight gain goals in treatment predicts longer-term weight-related outcomes. Other potential predictors, personality, mood, or eating disorder-specific symptoms were relatively much less predictive. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE The results from this study indicate that the amount of weight gained during treatment predicts BMI 6 months after discharge from a high level of care. This suggests that patients require sufficient time in a higher level of care treatment to meet their specific weight goals and be able to maintain normal weight.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido K W Frank
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Joel J Stoddard
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Tiffany Brown
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
| | - Josh Gowin
- Department of Radiology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Walter H Kaye
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
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2
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Gumančík J, Cornelissen PL, Brokjøb LG, Ridley BJ, McCarty K, Tovée MJ, Cornelissen KK. Testing the validity of online psychophysical measurement of body image perception. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0302747. [PMID: 38857270 PMCID: PMC11164378 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 06/12/2024] Open
Abstract
This body image study tests the viability of transferring a complex psychophysical paradigm from a controlled in-person laboratory task to an online environment. 172 female participants made online judgements about their own body size when viewing images of computer-generated female bodies presented in either in front-view or at 45-degrees in a method of adjustment (MOA) paradigm. The results of these judgements were then compared to the results of two laboratory-based studies (with 96 and 40 female participants respectively) to establish three key findings. Firstly, the results show that the accuracy of online and in-lab estimates of body size are comparable, secondly that the same patterns of visual biases in judgements are shown both in-lab and online, and thirdly online data shows the same view-orientation advantage in accuracy in body size judgements as the laboratory studies. Thus, this study suggests that that online sampling potentially represents a rapid and accurate way of collecting reliable complex behavioural and perceptual data from a more diverse range of participants than is normally sampled in laboratory-based studies. It also offers the potential for designing stratified sampling strategies to construct a truly representative sample of a target population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiří Gumančík
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Piers L. Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Lise Gulli Brokjøb
- Department of Psychology, The Artic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Bethany J. Ridley
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Kristofor McCarty
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Martin J. Tovée
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Katri K. Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
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3
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Groves V, Ridley BJ, Cornelissen PL, Maalin N, Mohamed S, Kramer RSS, McCarty K, Tovée MJ, Cornelissen KK. Men's perception of current and ideal body composition and the influence of media internalization on body judgements. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1116686. [PMID: 37205060 PMCID: PMC10185840 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1116686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction To determine men's body ideals and the factors that influence these choices, this study used a matrix of computer generated (CG) male bodies (based on an analysis of 3D scanned real bodies) which independently varied in fat and muscle content. Methods Two hundred and fifty-eight male participants completed a range of psychometric measures to index body concerns and body ideal internalization and then chose the CG body that best reflected their own current body, as well as the body that reflected their personal ideal. A subset of participants was then retested to check that these judgements were stable over time. Results While judgements of the ideal body seem to be influenced by a shared appearance ideal, the degree to which this ideal was internalized showed significant variability between participants. The effect of this internalization was reflected in the difference between the estimated current body and the ideal. Discussion Higher internalization led to a preference for higher muscle and lower fat content. This preference was most marked for fat content, although reducing adiposity also made the underlying musculature more salient. Additionally, the ideal body composition was modulated by the composition the participant believed his current body had (i.e., it seemed that a participant's ideal body was anchored by what they believed to be their current body and what change was possible from this starting point).
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Affiliation(s)
- Vicki Groves
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Bethany J. Ridley
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Piers L. Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Nadia Maalin
- Department of Psychology, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Sophie Mohamed
- Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, NHS Grampian, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
| | | | - Kristofor McCarty
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Martin J. Tovée
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Katri K. Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
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4
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Hamamoto Y, Suzuki S, Motoki K, Oba K, Kawashima R, Sugiura M. Neural mechanisms of perceptual and affective body-image disturbance during own-body and ideal-body estimation. Behav Brain Res 2023; 444:114349. [PMID: 36801426 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023]
Abstract
Body-image disturbance is a core feature of eating disorders and can predict their development in healthy individuals. There are two components of body-image disturbance: perceptual disturbance (associated with overestimation of body size) and affective disturbance (associated with body dissatisfaction). Previous behavioral studies have hypothesized that attention to particular body parts and negative body-related emotions resulting from social pressure are associated with the respective degrees of perceptual and affective disturbance; however, the neural representations that underlie this hypothesis have not been elucidated. Thus, this study investigated the brain regions and connectivity associated with the degree of body-image disturbance. Specifically, we examined the brain activations associated with participants' estimation of the width of their actual and ideal bodies; we sought to determine which brain regions and functional connectivity from body-related visual processing regions were correlated with the degree of each component of body-image disturbance. The degree of perceptual disturbance was positively correlated with excessive width-dependent brain activations in the left anterior cingulate cortex when estimating one's body size; it was positively correlated with the functional connectivity between the left extrastriate body area and left anterior insula. The degree of affective disturbance was positively correlated with excessive width-dependent brain activation in the right temporoparietal junction and negatively correlated with functional connectivity between the left extrastriate body area and right precuneus when estimating one's ideal body size. These results support the hypothesis that perceptual disturbance is associated with attentional processing, whereas affective disturbance is associated with social processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yumi Hamamoto
- School of Medicine, Tohoku University, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan; Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 5-3-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan.
| | - Shinsuke Suzuki
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan; Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, Tohoku University, 6-3 Aramaki aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8578, Japan; Centre for Brain, Minds and Markets, Department of Finance, Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Melbourne, 198 Berkeley St, Carlton, VIC 3053, Australia; Center for the Promotion of Social Data Science Education and Research, Hitotsubashi University, 2-1 Naka, Kunitachi, Tokyo 186-8601, Japan
| | - Kosuke Motoki
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 5-3-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan; Department of Management, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Kentaro Oba
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan
| | - Ryuta Kawashima
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan
| | - Motoaki Sugiura
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan; International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, 468-1 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8572, Japan
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5
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Turnbull G, Lego S, Kennedy BL, Alexi J, Li YR, Engel MM, Mann G, Bayliss DM, Farrell S, Bell J. Sizing up the crowd: Assessing spatial integration difficulties in body size judgements across eating disorder symptomatology. Front Psychol 2023; 13:1003250. [PMID: 36687820 PMCID: PMC9853910 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1003250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Body size judgements are frequently biased, or inaccurate, and these errors are further exaggerated for individuals with eating disorders. Within the eating disorder literature, it has been suggested that exaggerated errors in body size judgements are due to difficulties with integration. Across two experiments, we developed a novel integration task, named the Ebbinghaus Illusion for Bodies in Virtual Reality (VR), to assess whether nearby bodies influence the perceived size of a single body. VR was used to simulate the appearance of a small crowd around a central target body. Method and Results In Experiment 1 (N = 412), participants were required to judge the size of a central female target within a crowd. Experiment 1 revealed an Ebbinghaus Illusion, in which a central female appeared larger when surrounded by small distractors, but comparatively smaller when surrounded by large distractors. In other words, the findings of Experiment 1 demonstrate that surrounding crowd information is integrated when judging an individual's body size; a novel measure of spatial integration (i.e., an Ebbinghaus Illusion for Bodies in VR). In Experiment 2 (N = 96), female participants were selected based on high (n = 43) and low (n = 53) eating disorder symptomatology. We examined whether the magnitude of this illusion would differ amongst those with elevated versus low eating disorder symptomatology, in accordance with weak central coherence theory, with the high symptomatology group displaying less spatial integration relative to the low group. The results of Experiment 2 similarly found an Ebbinghaus Illusion for Bodies in VR. However, illusion magnitude did not vary across high and low symptomatology groups. Discussion Overall, these findings demonstrate that surrounding crowd information is integrated when judging individual body size; however, those with elevated eating disorder symptomatology did not show any integration deficit on this broader measure of spatial integration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgia Turnbull
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia,*Correspondence: Georgia Turnbull,
| | - Sophia Lego
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Briana L. Kennedy
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Joanna Alexi
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Yanqi R. Li
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Manja M. Engel
- Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Georgina Mann
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Donna M. Bayliss
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Simon Farrell
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Jason Bell
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
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6
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Thornborrow T, Evans EH, Tovee MJ, Boothroyd LG. Sociocultural drivers of body image and eating disorder risk in rural Nicaraguan women. J Eat Disord 2022; 10:133. [PMID: 36068623 PMCID: PMC9450464 DOI: 10.1186/s40337-022-00656-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Technological and economic globalisation has been suggested as a cause of increasing rates of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders globally, especially as regards the impact of mass media on internalised body ideals. This process is rarely observed in action, however. The current work investigates multiple aspects of body ideals, body image, sociocultural attitudes and eating attitudes in 62 Creole and Mestizo women living in communities at differing stages of technological development on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua METHOD/RESULTS: In Study 1, women used 3D avatar software to create their own 'ideal' body without the constraints of ready-made stimuli. Analyses of resulting avatars showed that components of the ideal body shape (upper and lower body curvaceousness) but not body size (body mass) were associated with levels of film and television consumption. In Study 2, women completed measures of variables in the sociocultural model of eating disorder risk. As expected, body dissatisfaction mediated the relationship between internalisation of sociocultural body ideals and pathological eating attitudes. In contrast, body appreciation reduced pathological eating attitudes, via reduced body dissatisfaction. Finally, Study 3 measured sociocultural influences, body image and eating attitudes at 2 or 3 timepoints per woman; body dissatisfaction covaried with pathological eating attitudes across time. Ethnicity varied in its effects across studies. DISCUSSION Together these data show that even at early stages of media acculturation, women may show similar patterns of association between sociocultural internalisation, body dissatisfaction and eating disorder risk as in high income nations. However, they also demonstrate unique aspects of this population's body shape ideals, and the independent protective effect of body appreciation.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Thornborrow
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN6 7TS, Lincolnshire, UK.
| | - E H Evans
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - M J Tovee
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - L G Boothroyd
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK.
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7
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Aniulis E, Moeck EK, Thomas NA, Sharp G. The Real Ideal: Misestimation of Body Mass Index. Front Glob Womens Health 2022; 3:756119. [PMID: 35712233 PMCID: PMC9197161 DOI: 10.3389/fgwh.2022.756119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
In Western cultures, the ideal body for women is thin and toned. Idealization of thinness has led many women to desire bodies with an underweight body mass index (BMI). The present study investigated women's knowledge of BMI, particularly relating to their own body ideals, to determine whether women knowingly idealize bodies categorized as “underweight.” In August 2020, one-hundred and forty-seven US women aged 18 to 25 completed two online tasks in a repeated-measures design. First, participants estimated the BMIs of a series of bodies. Then, participants selected representations of their own and ideal bodies from a figure rating scale and estimated the BMIs of their selections. Participants generally mis-estimated the BMI of bodies, but did so to a greater extent when viewing bodies as an extension of their own, i.e., following the figure rating scale task. Further, if participants selected an underweight or overweight ideal body, they were likely to estimate this body was within a “normal” weight BMI range, demonstrating that women who idealize underweight–or overweight–bodies do so unknowingly. These findings suggest misperceptions of women's own ideal body size are often greater than misperceptions of other bodies, potentially driving the tendency to idealize underweight bodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellie Aniulis
- Department of Psychiatry, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- *Correspondence: Ellie Aniulis
| | - Ella K. Moeck
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Nicole A. Thomas
- College of Education, Psychology, and Social Work, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Gemma Sharp
- Department of Psychiatry, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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8
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Cornelissen KK, Brokjøb LG, Gumančík J, Lowdon E, McCarty K, Irvine KR, Tovée MJ, Cornelissen PL. The Effect of Own Body Concerns on Judgments of Other Women’s Body Size. Front Psychol 2022; 13:888904. [PMID: 35602723 PMCID: PMC9120952 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.888904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated the relationships between healthy women’s estimates of their own body size, their body dissatisfaction, and how they subjectively judge the transition from normal to overweight in other women’s bodies (the “normal/overweight” boundary). We propose two complementary hypotheses. In the first, participants compare other women to an internalized Western “thin ideal,” whose size reflects the observer’s own body dissatisfaction. As dissatisfaction increases, so the size of their “thin ideal” reduces, predicting an inverse relationship between the “normal/overweight” boundary and participants’ body dissatisfaction. Alternatively, participants judge the size of other women relative to the body size they believe they have. For this implicit or explicit social comparison, the participant selects a “normal/overweight” boundary that minimizes the chance of her making an upward social comparison. So, the “normal/overweight” boundary matches or is larger than her own body size. In an online study of 129 healthy women, we found that both opposing factors explain where women place the “normal/overweight” boundary. Increasing body dissatisfaction leads to slimmer judgments for the position of the “normal/overweight” boundary in the body mass index (BMI) spectrum. Whereas, increasing overestimation by the observer of their own body size shifts the “normal/overweight” boundary toward higher BMIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katri K. Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Lise Gulli Brokjøb
- Department of Psychology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Jiří Gumančík
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Ellis Lowdon
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Kristofor McCarty
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Kamila R. Irvine
- School of Psychology, College of Social Science, University of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
| | - Martin J. Tovée
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Piers Louis Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Piers Louis Cornelissen,
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9
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D'Amour S, Alexe D, Harris LR. Changes in the perceived size of the body following exposure to distorted self-body images. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:210722. [PMID: 35462776 PMCID: PMC9019518 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Inaccurate perceptions, such as under- or over-estimation of body size are often found in clinical eating disorder populations but have recently been shown also in healthy people. However, it is not yet clear how body size perception may be affected when the internal body representation is manipulated. In this study, visual adaptation was used to investigate whether exposure to distorted visual feedback alters the representation of body size and how long any such effects might last. Participants were exposed for five minutes to a distorted life-size image of themselves that was either 20% wider or 20% narrower than their normal size. Accuracy was measured using our novel psychophysical method that taps into the implicit body representation. The accuracy of the representation was assessed at 6, 12 and 18 min following exposure to adaptation. Altered visual feedback caused changes in participants' judgements of their body size: adapting to a wider body resulted in size overestimation whereas underestimations occurred after adapting to a narrower body. These distortions lasted throughout testing and did not fully return back to normal within 18 min. The results are discussed in terms of the emerging literature indicating that the internal representation of the body is dynamic and flexible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah D'Amour
- Centre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, Canada
| | - Deborah Alexe
- Centre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, Canada
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10
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A multilevel Bayesian meta-analysis of the body inversion effect: Evaluating controversies over headless and sexualized bodies. Psychon Bull Rev 2022; 29:1558-1593. [PMID: 35230674 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-022-02067-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Face and body perception rely on specialized processing mechanisms to interpret social information efficiently. The body inversion effect (BIE), refers to an inversion effect for bodies, such that recognition of bodies is impaired by inversion. The BIE, like the face inversion effect (FIE), is particularly important because a disproportionate BIE relative to inversion effects for objects could be interpreted in much the same way as the disproportionate FIE has often been characterized; that is, as evidence of specialized, configural processing. However, research supporting the BIE is marked by methodological heterogeneity and mixed findings. Our multilevel Bayesian meta-analysis addresses inconsistencies in the literature by pooling data from numerous studies to estimate the magnitude of the BIE across various methodological and stimulus properties. We included 180 effect sizes from 41 empirical articles representing data from 2,274 participants. Overall, we found that the BIE was moderate-large in magnitude (Hedges' g = 0.75). Importantly, the inversion effect was larger for bodies than objects (b = 0.42); however, the inversion effect for faces was larger than for bodies (b = 0.34). We tested the role of discrimination dimension, stimulus type, face/head inclusion, stimulus sexualization, and sexualized stimulus sex as moderators of the BIE. We found that the BIE was moderated by discrimination dimension, stimulus type, stimulus sexualization, and sexualized stimulus sex. By synthesizing the existing literature, we provide a better theoretical understanding of how underlying visual processing mechanisms may differ for different types of social information (i.e., bodies vs. faces).
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11
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Hamamoto Y, Suzuki S, Sugiura M. Two components of body-image disturbance are differentially associated with distinct eating disorder characteristics in healthy young women. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0262513. [PMID: 35020770 PMCID: PMC8754315 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Body-image disturbance comprises two components. The first is perceptual in nature, and is measured by a discrepancy between one’s actual body and perceived self-image (“perceived–actual discrepancy”). The other component is affective, and is measured by a discrepancy between one’s perceived self-image and ideal body image (“perceived–ideal discrepancy”). The present study evaluated the relationships between body-image disturbance and characteristics of eating disorders such as symptoms and related personality traits. In a psychophysiological experiment, female university students (mean ± SD age = 21.0 ± 1.38 years) were presented with silhouette images of their own bodies that were distorted in terms of width. The participants were asked whether each silhouette image was more overweight than their actual or ideal body images. Eating-disorder characteristics were assessed using six factors from the Japanese version of the Eating Disorder Inventory 2 (EDI2). We found that perceived–actual discrepancies correlated with negative self-evaluation (i.e., factor 3 of the EDI2), whereas perceived–ideal discrepancies correlated with dissatisfaction with one’s own body (i.e., factor 2 of EDI2). These results imply that distinct psychological mechanisms underlie the two components of body-image disturbance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yumi Hamamoto
- School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai-shi, Miyagi, Japan
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai-shi, Miyagi, Japan
- * E-mail: ,
| | - Shinsuke Suzuki
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai-shi, Miyagi, Japan
- Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai-shi, Miyagi, Japan
- Brain, Minds and Markets Laboratory, Department of Finance, The University of Melbourne, Carlton Victoria, Australia
| | - Motoaki Sugiura
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai-shi, Miyagi, Japan
- International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai-shi, Miyagi, Japan
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12
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Turnbull G, Alexi J, Mann G, Li Y, Engel M, Bayliss DM, Farrell S, Bell J. EXPRESS: The Influence of Three-Dimensional Cues on Body Size Judgements. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2022; 75:2318-2331. [PMID: 35034530 DOI: 10.1177/17470218221076850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Research has shown that body size judgements are frequently biased, or inaccurate. Critically, judgement biases are further exaggerated for individuals with eating disorders, a finding that has been attributed to difficulties integrating body features into a perceptual whole. However, current understanding of which body features are integrated when judging body size is lacking. In this study, we examine whether individuals integrate three-dimensional (3D) cues to body volume when making body size judgements. Computer-generated body stimuli were presented in a 3D Virtual Reality (VR) environment. Participants (N = 412) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: in one condition the to-be-judged body was displayed binocularly (containing 3D cues to body volume), in the other, bodies were presented monocularly (2D cues only). Across 150 trials, participants were required to make a body size judgement of a target female body from a third-person point of view using an unmarked visual analogue scale (VAS). It was found that 3D cues significantly influenced body size judgements. Namely, thin 3D bodies were judged smaller, and overweight 3D bodies were judged larger, than their 2D counterpart. Furthermore, to reconcile these effects, we present evidence that the two perceptual biases, regression to the mean and serial dependence, were reduced by the additional 3D feature information. Our findings increase our understanding of how body size is perceptually encoded and creates testable predictions for clinical populations exhibiting integration difficulties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgia Turnbull
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| | - Joanna Alexi
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| | - Georgina Mann
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| | - Yanqi Li
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| | - Manja Engel
- Utrecht University, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Experimental Psychology/Helmholtz Institute. Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, Netherlands 8125
| | - Donna M Bayliss
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| | - Simon Farrell
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| | - Jason Bell
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
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13
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Longo MR. No evidence for sex differences in tactile distance anisotropy. Exp Brain Res 2022; 240:591-600. [PMID: 34984563 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-021-06301-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Perceptual illusions of the distance between two touches have been used to study mental representations of the body since E. H. Weber's classic studies in the nineteenth century. For example, on many body parts tactile distance is anisotropic, with distances aligned with body width being perceived as larger than distances aligned with body length on several skin regions. Recent work has demonstrated sex differences in other distortions of mental body representations, such as proprioceptive hand maps. Given such findings, I analysed the results of 24 experiments, conducted by myself and my colleagues, measuring tactile distance anisotropy on the hand dorsum in both women and men. The results showed clear, and highly consistent anisotropy in both women and men, with no evidence for any sex difference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew R Longo
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.
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14
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Abstract
Many who suffer from eating disorders claim that they see themselves as "fat". Despite decades of research into the phenomenon, behavioural evidence has failed to confirm that eating disorders involve visual misperception of own-body size. I illustrate the importance of this phenomenon for our understanding of perceptual processing, outline the challenges involved in experimentally confirming it, and provide solutions to those challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Gadsby
- Department of Philosophy, 445418University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
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15
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Cazzato V, Walters ER, Urgesi C. Associations of observer's gender, Body Mass Index and internalization of societal beauty ideals to visual body processing. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2021; 85:3026-3039. [PMID: 33433640 PMCID: PMC8476362 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-020-01471-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2020] [Accepted: 12/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
We examined whether visual processing mechanisms of the body of conspecifics are different in women and men and whether these rely on westernised socio-cultural ideals and body image concerns. Twenty-four women and 24 men performed a visual discrimination task of upright or inverted images of female or male bodies and faces (Experiment 1) and objects (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, both groups of women and men showed comparable abilities in the discrimination of upright and inverted bodies and faces. However, the gender of the human stimuli yielded different effects on participants' performance, so that female faces, and male bodies appeared to be processed less configurally than female bodies and male faces, respectively. Interestingly, the reduction of configural processing for male bodies was significantly predicted by participants' Body Mass Index (BMI) and their level of internalization of muscularity. Our findings suggest that configural visual processing of bodies and faces in women and men may be linked to a selective attention to detail needed for discriminating salient physical (perhaps sexual) cues of conspecifics. Importantly, BMI and muscularity internalization of beauty ideals may also play a crucial role in this mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Cazzato
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
| | | | - Cosimo Urgesi
- Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
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16
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Mohamed S, Kramer RSS, Thornborrow T, Pollet TV, Tovée MJ, Cornelissen PL. 3D visualisation of psychometric estimates for the ideal male body. Body Image 2021; 38:295-305. [PMID: 34023808 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Psychological concerns are frequently indexed by psychometric questionnaires but the mental representations that they seek to quantify are difficult to visualise. We used a set of questionnaires designed to measure men's concept of their bodies including: the Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS; McCreary & Sasse, 2000), the Perceived Sociocultural Pressures Scale (PSPS; Stice, Nemeroff, & Shaw, 1996a), the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015), and the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3; Thompson, van den Berg, Roehrig, Guarda, & Heinberg, 2004). We combined their use with an interactive 3D modelling programme to allow men to create computer-generated representations of their ideal bodies. We used a principal component analysis to extract those shape components of our participants' CGI ideal bodies that were predicted by the questionnaires and reconstructed the body shapes that these questionnaires were capturing. Moving from the lowest to the highest score on both the DMS and SATAQ corresponded with changes in muscularity, particularly muscle mass and definition. This approach allows us to demonstrate the actual body features that are being captured by a particular questionnaire.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Mohamed
- Department of Clinical Health, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Foresterhill Rd, Cornhill Rd, Aberdeen AB25 2ZN, UK
| | - Robin S S Kramer
- School of Psychology, College of Social Science, University of Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN6 7TS, UK
| | - Tracey Thornborrow
- School of Psychology, College of Social Science, University of Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN6 7TS, UK
| | - Thomas V Pollet
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Martin J Tovée
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK.
| | - Piers L Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK
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17
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Women's self-estimates of body size are more accurate and precise when made with three-quarter view than front-view stimuli. Body Image 2021; 38:171-180. [PMID: 33894422 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Revised: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Recently, Cornelissen, Cornelissen, Groves, McCarty and Tovée (2018) asked which image orientations (e.g. front-, side-, or three-quarter view) are most appropriate for tasks which are used for self-estimates of body size and shape. Based on psychophysical measurements, they showed that front view stimuli showed substantially poorer content validity compared to side- and three-quarter view stimuli. Here, we tested the real-world consequences of Cornelissen et al.'s (2018) findings. We carried out a body size self-estimation task in a sample of healthy adult women, once with front view stimuli, and once with three-quarter view stimuli. The order in which front- and three-quarter view tasks were carried out was randomized across participants. Compared to three-quarter view stimuli, we found that: a) the precision of participants' judgements was worse with front view stimuli, and b) that front view stimuli led to over-estimation of body size by ∼1.7 BMI units. While these results need to be replicated, they do suggest that careful consideration needs to be given to stimulus orientation in future studies.
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18
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Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of Body Image: Integrating Positive Body Image, Embodiment and Self-Compassion. Psychol Belg 2021; 61:248-261. [PMID: 34394951 PMCID: PMC8323527 DOI: 10.5334/pb.1057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Body image (BI) disturbance is a relevant factor in the etiology and treatment of eating disorders (ED). Although progress has been made in recent decades in understanding BI and its relationship with ED, the efficacy of BI disturbance prevention and intervention programs is still limited. In order to reach deeper understanding of BI disturbance and clarify the interactions between some protective and risk factors related to this construct, we carried out a literature review on some specific BI-related factors that so far have been analyzed independently. We specifically examined positive and negative BI; embodiment and its role in the development of positive and negative BI; and self-compassion as a protective factor that promotes positive embodiment (vs. disembodiment) and protection against body shame. We conclude that integrating the available evidence on these factors into BI models may be used to enhance our understanding of BI and improve the efficacy of prevention and intervention programs to help fight negative BI (by reducing body shame and disembodiment) and promote positive BI (by increasing self-compassion and positive embodiment).
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19
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Chan AWY, Noles DL, Utkov N, Akbilgic O, Smith W. Misalignment between perceptual boundaries and weight categories reflects a new normal for body size perception. Sci Rep 2021; 11:10442. [PMID: 34001935 PMCID: PMC8129102 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89533-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Combatting the current global epidemic of obesity requires that people have a realistic understanding of what a healthy body size looks like. This is a particular issue in different population sub-groups, where there may be increased susceptibility to obesity-related diseases. Prior research has been unable to systematically assess body size judgement due to a lack of attention to gender and race; our study aimed to identify the contribution of these factors. Using a data-driven multi-variate decision tree approach, we varied the gender and race of image stimuli used, and included the same diversity among participants. We adopted a condition-rich categorization visual task and presented participants with 120 unique body images. We show that gender and weight categories of the stimuli affect accuracy of body size perception. The decision pattern reveals biases for male bodies, in which participants showed an increasing number of errors from leaner to bigger bodies, particularly under-estimation errors. Participants consistently mis-categorized overweight male bodies as normal weight, while accurately categorizing normal weight. Overweight male bodies are now perceived as part of an expanded normal: the perceptual boundary of normal weight has become wider than the recognized BMI category. For female bodies, another intriguing pattern emerged, in which participants consistently mis-categorized underweight bodies as normal, whilst still accurately categorizing normal female bodies. Underweight female bodies are now in an expanded normal, in opposite direction to that of males. Furthermore, an impact of race type and gender of participants was also observed. Our results demonstrate that perceptual weight categorization is multi-dimensional, such that categorization decisions can be driven by ultiple factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annie W Y Chan
- Division of Psychology, Department of Life Sciences, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Brunel University London, Gaskell Building, Room 219, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, UK.
| | - Danielle L Noles
- School of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Nathan Utkov
- Department of Bioinformatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Oguz Akbilgic
- Department of Health Informatics and Data Science, Parkinson School of Health Informatics and Public Health, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL, USA
| | - Webb Smith
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
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20
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Cornelissen PL, Tovée MJ. Targeting body image in eating disorders. Curr Opin Psychol 2021; 41:71-77. [PMID: 33940328 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, are challenging to treat successfully and have a very high relapse rate. Body image disturbance (BID) is a core component of these eating disorders. It is a predictor of onset, treatment outcome and future relapse. However, recent studies suggest that BID can be improved by an adaptation of cognitive bias training. This does not target the accuracy of body size judgements, but instead focuses on how a body of a particular size is categorized by a patient. This recalibration of the categorical boundary at which bodies are judged as overweight, which challenges a patient's existing preconceptions about which constitutes an acceptable body size, seems to lead to a more general reassessment of eating disordered attitudes and a significant improvement in their psychological profile. These promising findings need further trials to determine the long-term effectiveness of such a targeted intervention, but it potentially provides an important additional treatment option. In addition, this cognitive bias training may also be an effective augmentation to treatment in other conditions that feature BID, such as bulimia nervosa and body dysmorphia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piers L Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Martin J Tovée
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
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21
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Bellard AM, Cornelissen PL, Mian E, Cazzato V. The ageing body: contributing attitudinal factors towards perceptual body size estimates in younger and middle-aged women. Arch Womens Ment Health 2021; 24:93-105. [PMID: 32562005 PMCID: PMC7929965 DOI: 10.1007/s00737-020-01046-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2020] [Accepted: 05/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Over-estimation of body size, a core feature of eating disorders (EDs), has been well-documented both in young healthy and ED individuals. Yet, evidence that altered body perception might also affect older women is limited. Here, we examined whether attitudinal components of body image (i.e. the feelings an individual has about their body size and shape) might affect perceived actual and ideal body shape self-estimates in midlife, similarly to younger women. Thirty-two younger (mean age, 24.22 years) and 33 middle-aged (mean age, 53.79 years) women took part to a computerized body perception assessment of perceived, actual and ideal aspects of body image. Body mass index (BMI), societal and interpersonal aspects of appearance ideals, measured by means of Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-4), and assessment of body uneasiness and concerns for specific body parts, measured by Body Uneasiness Test (BUT-A/B) scales, were also investigated. Younger and middle-aged women with larger BMI showed greater discrepancy in perceptual distortions from their perceived actual body size. However, middle-aged women with greater body part concerns overestimated their perceived body size, as opposed to younger women who were almost accurate. Unlike middle-aged women, younger women with higher body part concerns desired slimmer ideal body image than their perceived actual. Results suggest that distortions in the perceived actual and ideal body size self-estimates of younger and middle-aged women are best explained by a combination of BMI, body part concerns and the particular age group to which a participant belonged. In the future, a personalized approach for the assessment of women's perceptions and concerns of specific body areas during lifespan should be adopted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashleigh M. Bellard
- grid.4425.70000 0004 0368 0654School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Piers L. Cornelissen
- grid.42629.3b0000000121965555Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK
| | - Emanuel Mian
- Emotifood Body Image & Eating Disorders Unit, 20900 Monza, Italy
| | - Valentina Cazzato
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
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22
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Behrens SC, Meneguzzo P, Favaro A, Teufel M, Skoda EM, Lindner M, Walder L, Quiros Ramirez A, Zipfel S, Mohler B, Black M, Giel KE. Weight bias and linguistic body representation in anorexia nervosa: Findings from the BodyTalk project. EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW 2020; 29:204-215. [PMID: 33252835 DOI: 10.1002/erv.2812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2020] [Revised: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 11/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study provides a comprehensive assessment of own body representation and linguistic representation of bodies in general in women with typical and atypical anorexia nervosa (AN). METHODS In a series of desktop experiments, participants rated a set of adjectives according to their match with a series of computer generated bodies varying in body mass index, and generated prototypic body shapes for the same set of adjectives. We analysed how body mass index of the bodies was associated with positive or negative valence of the adjectives in the different groups. Further, body image and own body perception were assessed. RESULTS In a German-Italian sample comprising 39 women with AN, 20 women with atypical AN and 40 age matched control participants, we observed effects indicative of weight stigmatization, but no significant differences between the groups. Generally, positive adjectives were associated with lean bodies, whereas negative adjectives were associated with obese bodies. DISCUSSION Our observations suggest that patients with both typical and atypical AN affectively and visually represent body descriptions not differently from healthy women. We conclude that overvaluation of low body weight and fear of weight gain cannot be explained by generally distorted perception or cognition, but require individual consideration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Claire Behrens
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Paolo Meneguzzo
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Angela Favaro
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.,Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Martin Teufel
- Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Duisburg-Essen, LVR University-Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Eva-Maria Skoda
- Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Duisburg-Essen, LVR University-Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Marion Lindner
- Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Duisburg-Essen, LVR University-Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Lukas Walder
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Alejandra Quiros Ramirez
- Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen, Germany.,Psychology Department, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Stephan Zipfel
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Betty Mohler
- Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Michael Black
- Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Katrin E Giel
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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23
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Beyond BMI for self-estimates of body size and shape: A new method for developing stimuli correctly calibrated for body composition. Behav Res Methods 2020; 53:1308-1321. [PMID: 33051818 PMCID: PMC8219570 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-020-01494-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Accurate self-assessment of body shape and size plays a key role in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of both obesity and eating disorders. These chronic conditions cause significant health problems, reduced quality of life, and represent a major problem for health services. Variation in body shape depends on two aspects of composition: adiposity and muscularity. However, most self-assessment tools are unidimensional. They depict variation in adiposity only, typically quantified by the body mass index. This can lead to substantial, and clinically meaningful, errors in estimates of body shape and size. To solve this problem, we detail a method of creating biometrically valid body stimuli. We obtained high-resolution 3D body shape scans and composition measures from 397 volunteers (aged 18-45 years) and produced a statistical mapping between the two. This allowed us to create 3D computer-generated models of bodies, correctly calibrated for body composition (i.e., muscularity and adiposity). We show how these stimuli, whose shape changes are based on change in composition in two dimensions, can be used to match the body size and shape participants believe themselves to have, to the stimulus they see. We also show how multivariate multiple regression can be used to model shape change predicted by these 2D outcomes, so that participants' choices can be explained by their measured body composition together with other psychometric variables. Together, this approach should substantially improve the accuracy and precision with which self-assessments of body size and shape can be made in obese individuals and those suffering from eating disorders.
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24
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Comparison of body image evaluation by virtual reality and paper-based figure rating scales in adolescents with anorexia nervosa: retrospective study. Eat Weight Disord 2020; 25:735-743. [PMID: 30977098 DOI: 10.1007/s40519-019-00680-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Accepted: 03/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Assessment of the symptoms of body image disorder (BID) is crucial in anorexia nervosa (AN). Recent technological advancements such as virtual reality (VR) have improved the visual perception with 3D avatars and the feeling to be the avatar with the immersive conditions. This retrospective study examines the hypothesis that VR with standardized 3D avatars would improve body image perception and then body image evaluation by adolescents with AN, compared to the paper-based figure rating scales (FRS). METHODS Data of 31 female adolescents with AN were retrospectively studied. Paired data of perceived and desired body forms in addition to body perception index (BPI) (p = 0.2) and body dissatisfaction (p = 0.6), obtained by both VR and FRS were compared. Furthermore, correlation with validated psychometric questionnaires was also studied. Head-tracking technology allowed for the implicit measurement of explicit choices of patients. RESULTS Participants with AN overestimated own body size regardless of the assessment tool used. BPI and body dissatisfaction did not differ significantly between FRS and VR. VR-based evaluation was correlated with the psychometric parameters BID and body dissatisfaction. Head tracking revealed significantly longer participant engagement with avatars representing malnutrition and underweight states, while those least engaged corresponded to obesity. CONCLUSIONS Results of BID evaluation by VR standardized 3D avatars are comparable to those obtained by paper-based FRS. These findings suggest that comparable results obtained by both tools of evaluation reflect primarily the role of affective-cognitive perturbation in BID. The perceptive component could be better evaluated using biometric-enhanced assessment tools. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study (evaluation data retrospectively studied).
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25
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Irvine KR, Irvine AR, Maalin N, McCarty K, Cornelissen KK, Tovée MJ, Cornelissen PL. Using immersive virtual reality to modify body image. Body Image 2020; 33:232-243. [PMID: 32408166 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2019] [Revised: 03/27/2020] [Accepted: 03/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
We tested the efficacy of a training programme, delivered in virtual reality (VR), to modify the perceptual boundary between what participants classify as a fat versus a thin body. Three cohorts of 20 female volunteers with high body image concerns were recruited to two intervention groups and one control group. All participants completed a 4-day training programme in VR where they categorised a series of 3D models as either thin or fat; one intervention group was presented with the stimuli briefly, while the other group had no time limits imposed. Both intervention groups were given inflationary feedback to shift their categorisations of the stimulus models towards higher BMIs. Our results show that, compared to controls, both intervention groups shifted their categorical boundaries between Day 1 and follow-up on Day 14. Unlimited stimulus presentation times were associated with a larger training effect. Furthermore, both intervention groups experienced statistically significant reductions in their concerns about their own body shape, weight and eating habits. However, only in the group with longer stimulus presentation times were these reductions consistent with a clinically meaningful effect. These findings suggest that manipulating categorical perception in VR might provide a complementary addition to existing treatments for eating disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamila R Irvine
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK.
| | - Andrew R Irvine
- Virtual Research Innovations Ltd., UK; School of Psychology, College of Social Science, University of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN6 7TS, UK
| | - Nadia Maalin
- School of Psychology, College of Social Science, University of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN6 7TS, UK
| | - Kristofor McCarty
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Katri K Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Martin J Tovée
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Piers L Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
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26
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Porras-Garcia B, Ferrer-Garcia M, Yilmaz L, Sen YO, Olszewska A, Ghita A, Serrano-Troncoso E, Treasure J, Gutiérrez-Maldonado J. Body-related attentional bias as mediator of the relationship between body mass index and body dissatisfaction. EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW 2020; 28:454-464. [PMID: 32155304 DOI: 10.1002/erv.2730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Revised: 02/13/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Body image disturbance, consisting of an affective (body dissatisfaction) and perceptual (body distortion) component, is not only found in eating disorders, but is also present in healthy individuals, affecting their psychological well-being and everyday life. A higher body mass index is associated with higher body dissatisfaction, whereas results in relation to body distortion are mixed. Furthermore, body dissatisfaction is associated with a weight-related attentional bias. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of a weight-related attentional bias in the relationship between body mass index and body image disturbance. Forty-one college women took part in a virtual reality and eye tracking procedure, in which the illusion of owning a virtual avatar with their body measurements was induced. During this procedure, body-related attentional bias was measured and afterwards body image disturbance was assessed. Mediation analysis revealed that weight-related attentional bias mediated the relationship between body mass index and body dissatisfaction (but not distortion). These findings suggest that modifying weight-related attentional bias would be a useful treatment target for improving body dissatisfaction. In addition, virtual reality technology could serve as an innovative method for modifying attentional bias in an ecologically valid way. HIGHLIGHTS: This Virtual Reality and Eye-Tracking study expands our knowledge about the relation between body mass index, body-related attention and body image disturbances. The results suggest that attentional bias towards weight-related body parts mediates the relation between BMI and body dissatisfaction. On the contrary, the relation between BMI and body distortion was not significant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Porras-Garcia
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marta Ferrer-Garcia
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Lena Yilmaz
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Yigit O Sen
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Agata Olszewska
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alexandra Ghita
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eduardo Serrano-Troncoso
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu of Barcelona, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
| | - Janet Treasure
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
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Characterizing Body Image Distortion and Bodily Self-Plasticity in Anorexia Nervosa via Visuo-Tactile Stimulation in Virtual Reality. J Clin Med 2019; 9:jcm9010098. [PMID: 31906009 PMCID: PMC7019698 DOI: 10.3390/jcm9010098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/19/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
We combined virtual reality and multisensory bodily illusion with the aim to characterize and reduce the perceptual (body overestimation) and the cognitive-emotional (body dissatisfaction) components of body image distortion (BID) in anorexia nervosa (AN). For each participant (20 anorexics, 20 healthy controls) we built personalized avatars that reproduced their own body size, shape, and verisimilar increases and losses of their original weight. Body overestimation and dissatisfaction were measured by asking participants to choose the avatar that best resembled their real and ideal body. Results show higher body dissatisfaction in AN, caused by the desire of a thinner body, and no body-size overestimation. Interpersonal multisensory stimulation (IMS) was then applied on the avatar reproducing participant’s perceived body, and on the two avatars which reproduced increases and losses of 15% of it, all presented with a first-person perspective (1PP). Embodiment was stronger after synchronous IMS in both groups, but did not reduce BID in participants with AN. Interestingly, anorexics reported more negative emotions after embodying the fattest avatar, which scaled with symptoms severity. Overall, our findings suggest that the cognitive-emotional, more than the perceptual component of BID is severely altered in AN and that perspective (1PP vs. 3PP) from which a body is evaluated may play a crucial role. Future research and clinical trials might take advantage of virtual reality to reduce the emotional distress related to body dissatisfaction.
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28
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Cornelissen KK, Widdrington H, McCarty K, Pollet TV, Tovée MJ, Cornelissen PL. Are attitudinal and perceptual body image the same or different? Evidence from high-level adaptation. Body Image 2019; 31:35-47. [PMID: 31430603 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2019] [Revised: 08/01/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
We used a high-level adaptation paradigm to distinguish between two hypotheses: (1) perceptual and attitudinal body image measurements reflect conceptually different mechanisms which are statistically independent of each other; (2) attitudinal (e.g., questionnaire) and perceptual (e.g., visual yes-no) body image tasks represent two different ways of measuring exactly the same construct. Forty women, with no history of eating disorders, carried out the experiment. Each participant carried out five adaptation blocks, with adapting stimuli representing female bodies at: extreme-low body mass index (BMI), mid-low BMI, actual BMI of the observer, mid-high BMI, and extreme-high BMI. Block order was randomized across participants. The main outcome variable was percentage error in participants' self-estimates of body size, measured post-adaption. In regressions of this percentage error on the strength of the adapting stimuli together with observers' attitudinal body image as a covariate, we found positive regression slopes and no evidence for any interaction between the fixed effects. Therefore, we conclude that perceptual and attitudinal body image mechanisms are indeed independent of each other. In the light of this evidence, we discuss how people with eating disorders, like anorexia nervosa, may come to over-estimate their body size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katri K Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Helena Widdrington
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Kristofor McCarty
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Thomas V Pollet
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Martin J Tovée
- School of Psychology, College of Social Science, University of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN6 7TS, UK
| | - Piers L Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK.
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29
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Brooks KR, Mond J, Mitchison D, Stevenson RJ, Challinor KL, Stephen ID. Looking at the Figures: Visual Adaptation as a Mechanism for Body-Size and -Shape Misperception. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2019; 15:133-149. [PMID: 31725353 DOI: 10.1177/1745691619869331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Many individuals experience body-size and -shape misperception (BSSM). Body-size overestimation is associated with body dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression, and the development of eating disorders in individuals who desire to be thinner. Similar symptoms have been noted for those who underestimate their muscularity. Conversely, individuals with high body mass indices (BMI) who underestimate their adiposity may not recognize the risks of or seek help for obesity-related medical issues. Although social scientists have examined whether media representations of idealized bodies contribute to the overestimation of fat or underestimation of muscle, other scientists suggest that increases in the prevalence of obesity could explain body-fat underestimation as a form of renormalization. However, these disparate approaches have not advanced our understanding of the perceptual underpinnings of BSSM. Recently, a new unifying account of BSSM has emerged that is based on the long-established phenomenon of visual adaptation, employing psychophysical measurements of perceived size and shape following exposure to "extreme" body stimuli. By inducing BSSM in the laboratory as an aftereffect, this technique is rapidly advancing our understanding of the underlying mental representation of human bodies. This nascent approach provides insight into real-world BSSM and may inform the development of therapeutic and public-health interventions designed to address such perceptual errors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin R Brooks
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University.,Perception in Action Research Centre, Macquarie University
| | - Jonathan Mond
- Centre for Rural Health, University of Tasmania.,Translational Health Research Institute, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University
| | - Deborah Mitchison
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University.,Translational Health Research Institute, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University.,Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University
| | - Richard J Stevenson
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University.,Perception in Action Research Centre, Macquarie University
| | | | - Ian D Stephen
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University.,Perception in Action Research Centre, Macquarie University
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30
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Jones AR, Tovée MJ, Cutler LR, Parkinson KN, Ells LJ, Araujo-Soares V, Pearce MS, Mann KD, Scott D, Harris JM, Adamson AJ. Development of the MapMe intervention body image scales of known weight status for 4-5 and 10-11 year old children. J Public Health (Oxf) 2019; 40:582-590. [PMID: 29190364 PMCID: PMC6266708 DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdx129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2017] [Accepted: 09/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Parents tend to visually assess children to determine their weight status and typically underestimate child body size. A visual tool may aid parents to more accurately assess child weight status and so support strategies to reduce childhood overweight. Body image scales (BIS) are visual images of people ranging from underweight to overweight but none exist for children based on UK criteria. Our aim was to develop sex- and age-specific BIS for children, based on British growth reference (UK90) criteria. Methods BIS were developed using 3D surface body scans of children, their associated weight status using UK90 criteria from height and weight measurements, and qualitative work with parents and health professionals. Results Height, weight and 3D body scans were collected (211: 4–5 years; 177: 10–11 years). Overall, 12 qualitative sessions were held with 37 participants. Four BIS (4–5-year-old girls and boys, 10–11-year-old girls and boys) were developed. Conclusions This study has created the first sex- and age-specific BIS, based on UK90 criteria. The BIS have potential for use in child overweight prevention and management strategies, and in future research. This study also provides a protocol for the development of further BIS appropriate to other age groups and ethnicities.
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Affiliation(s)
- A R Jones
- Institute of Health & Society, Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - M J Tovée
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK.,Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - L R Cutler
- Institute of Health & Society, Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - K N Parkinson
- Institute of Health & Society, Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - L J Ells
- School of Health and Social Care, Health and Social Care Institute, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
| | - V Araujo-Soares
- Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - M S Pearce
- Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - K D Mann
- Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - D Scott
- Department of Public Health and Wellbeing, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - J M Harris
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience. University of St Andrews, Fife, UK
| | - A J Adamson
- Institute of Health & Society, Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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31
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Alexi J, Dommisse K, Cleary D, Palermo R, Kloth N, Bell J. An Assessment of Computer-Generated Stimuli for Use in Studies of Body Size Estimation and Bias. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2390. [PMID: 31695661 PMCID: PMC6817789 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Accepted: 10/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Inaccurate body size judgments are associated with body image disturbances, a clinical feature of many eating disorders. Accordingly, body-related stimuli have become increasingly important in the study of estimation inaccuracies and body image disturbances. Technological advancements in the last decade have led to an increased use of computer-generated (CG) body stimuli in body image research. However, recent face perception research has suggested that CG face stimuli are not recognized as readily and may not fully tap facial processing mechanisms. The current study assessed the effectiveness of using CG stimuli in an established body size estimation task (the “bodyline” task). Specifically, we examined whether employing CG body stimuli alters body size judgments and associated estimation biases. One hundred and six 17- to 25-year-old females completed the CG bodyline task, which involved estimating the size of full-length CG body stimuli along a visual analogue scale. Our results show that perception of body size for CG stimuli was non-linear. Participants struggled to discriminate between extreme bodies sizes and overestimated the size change between near to average bodies. Furthermore, one of our measured size estimation biases was larger for CG stimuli. Our collective findings suggest using caution when employing CG stimuli in experimental research on body perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Alexi
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Kendra Dommisse
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.,Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Dominique Cleary
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.,Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Romina Palermo
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Nadine Kloth
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Jason Bell
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
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32
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Porras Garcia B, Ferrer Garcia M, Olszewska A, Yilmaz L, González Ibañez C, Gracia Blanes M, Gültekin G, Serrano Troncoso E, Gutiérrez Maldonado J. Is This My Own Body? Changing the Perceptual and Affective Body Image Experience among College Students Using a New Virtual Reality Embodiment-Based Technique. J Clin Med 2019; 8:jcm8070925. [PMID: 31252596 PMCID: PMC6678809 DOI: 10.3390/jcm8070925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2019] [Revised: 06/24/2019] [Accepted: 06/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Body image disturbances (BIDs) have been widely studied using virtual reality (VR) devices that induce a full body illusion (FBI) and allow manipulation of the individual’s perceptual and affective experiences of the body. This study aimed to assess whether the induction of the FBI over a virtual body would produce changes in body-related anxiety and BIDs using a new whole-body visuo-tactile stimulation procedure. Fifty non-clinical participants were randomly assigned to synchronous or asynchronous visuo-tactile groups. During the pre-assessment, all participants filled in BIDs and body-anxiety questionnaires. Then, they were embodied into two virtual bodies (VBs): firstly, with their real measurements, and secondly, with a larger-size body. Body image disturbances, body anxiety, fear of gaining weight, and FBI levels were assessed after exposure to each avatar. All participants in both conditions showed higher levels of BIDs and body anxiety after owning the larger-size VB than after owning the real-size VB (p < 0.05). The synchronous visuo-tactile group had higher scores, although the differences did not reach statistical significance. This study provides evidence of the usefulness of this new embodiment-based technique to induce changes in BIDs or body anxiety in a non-clinical sample, being suitable for use in future body image interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Porras Garcia
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marta Ferrer Garcia
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Agata Olszewska
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Lena Yilmaz
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cristina González Ibañez
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mireia Gracia Blanes
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gamze Gültekin
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eduardo Serrano Troncoso
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu of Barcelona; Passeig de Sant Joan de Déu, 2, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
- Children and Adolescent Mental Health Research Group, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Passeig de Sant Joan de Déu, 2, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - José Gutiérrez Maldonado
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.
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33
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The visual cues that drive the self-assessment of body size: Dissociation between fixation patterns and the key areas of the body for accurate judgement. Body Image 2019; 29:31-46. [PMID: 30852440 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2018] [Revised: 02/11/2019] [Accepted: 02/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
A modified version of the bubbles masking paradigm was used in three experiments to determine the key areas of the body that are used in self-estimates of body size. In this paradigm, parts of the stimuli are revealed by several randomly allocated Gaussian "windows" forcing judgements to be made based on this partial information. Over multiple trials, all potential cues are sampled, and the effectiveness of each window at predicting the judgement is determined. The modified bubbles strategy emphasises the distinction between central versus edge cues and localises the visual features used in judging one's own body size. In addition, eye-movements were measured in conjunction with the bubbles paradigm and the results mapped onto a common reference space. This shows that although observers fixate centrally on the torso, they are actually directing their visual attention to the edges of the torso to gauge body width as an index of body size. The central fixations are simply the most efficient way of positioning the eye to make this estimation. Inaccurate observers are less precise in their central fixations and do not evenly allocate their attention to both sides of the torso's edge, illustrating the importance of efficiently sampling the key information.
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34
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Gledhill LJ, George HR, Tovée MJ. Perceptual Not Attitudinal Factors Predict the Accuracy of Estimating Other Women's Bodies in Both Women With Anorexia Nervosa and Controls. Front Psychol 2019; 10:997. [PMID: 31143143 PMCID: PMC6520613 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2018] [Accepted: 04/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Disturbance in how one's body shape and size is experienced, usually including over-estimation of one's own body size, is a core feature of the diagnostic criteria of anorexia nervosa (AN). Is this over-estimation specific to women with AN's judgments of their own body? Or is it just a general feature of their judgments about all bodies? If the latter, it would be consistent with a general error in the perception of body size potentially linked to the use of a different set of visual cues for judging body size. If the former, then this suggests that the over-estimation of own body size has a strong attitudinal component and may be part of the psycho-pathology of their condition. To test this hypothesis, 20 women with AN and 80 control observers estimated the body size of 46 women. The results show a strong effect of perceptual factors in estimating body size for both controls and women with AN. This result is consistent with size over-estimation of own body in AN having a strong attitudinal basis and being a core feature of the psycho-pathology of the condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucinda J. Gledhill
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Hannah R. George
- Deaf Children, Young People and Family Service (National Deaf CAMHS), York, United Kingdom
| | - Martin J. Tovée
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom
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35
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Sex differences in perceptual hand maps: A meta-analysis. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2019; 196:1-10. [PMID: 30933684 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2018] [Revised: 02/08/2019] [Accepted: 03/07/2019] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
A large body of research has suggested that localisation of the hand in external space relies on distorted representations of the hand. We developed a paradigm for measuring implicit perceptual maps of the hand (Longo & Haggard, 2010, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 107, 11727-11732), which show systematic deviation from actual hand shape, including overestimation of hand width and underestimation of finger length. Recently, Coelho and Gonzalez (in press, Psychol Res) reported sex differences in these perceptual hand maps, with women showing greater overestimation of hand width, but less underestimation of finger length than men. In the current study, I conducted a meta-analysis of 19 experiments using this paradigm by myself and my colleagues. The results replicated the sex differences reported by Coelho and Gonzalez. Importantly, however, these sex differences were not apparent when actual hand size was included as a covariate in analyses, suggesting that they may, at least in part, be due to women having smaller hands on average than men.
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36
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Talbot D, Smith E, Cass J. The relationship between psychophysical body categorization performance and male body dissatisfaction. Sci Rep 2019; 9:3882. [PMID: 30846805 PMCID: PMC6405907 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-40502-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2018] [Accepted: 02/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study compared the predictive relationship between various psychophysical indices of body categorization performance (Point of Subjective Equivalence (PSE), Just Noticeable Difference (JND) and Reaction Time (RT)) and male body dissatisfaction (Male Body Attitudes Scale (MBAS)) and eating disorder symptoms (Eating disorders examination questionnaire (EDE-Q)), with performance on a validated figure rating scale (Visual Body Scale for Men (VBSM)). Body Mass Index, body fat percentage, and fat free mass index were also measured. PSE was not as sensitive in predicting body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms as the VBSM. JND and average RT were found to be sensitive predictors of body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms across the 82 male participants. JND proved to be a better indicator of weight concern than the VBSM-M. Whilst the body categorization task offers new insights into the way body images may be processed by males with different levels of body dissatisfaction, the VBSM and the conventional self-report measures are likely to be clinically more efficacious at measuring body dissatisfaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Talbot
- School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University, Bullecourt Ave, Milperra, 2214, Australia.
| | - Evelyn Smith
- School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University, Bullecourt Ave, Milperra, 2214, Australia
| | - John Cass
- School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University, Bullecourt Ave, Milperra, 2214, Australia
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37
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Groves V, Cornelissen P, McCarty K, Mohamed S, Maalin N, Tovée MJ, Cornelissen K. How Does Variation in the Body Composition of Both Stimuli and Participant Modulate Self-Estimates of Men's Body Size? Front Psychiatry 2019; 10:720. [PMID: 31649565 PMCID: PMC6794946 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
When measured in units of body mass index (BMI), how much variation in men's self-estimates of body size is caused by i) variation in participants' body composition and ii) variation in the apparent muscle mass and muscle tone of the stimuli being judged? To address this, we generated nine sets of male CGI bodies representing low, mid, and high muscle mass rendered at low, mid, and high muscle tone, from 18.75 to 40 BMIhse units. BMIhse units in this study are estimates of BMI derived from calibration equations predicting BMI from waist and hip circumference, age, sex, height, and ethnicity in the Health Survey for England databases. Forty-five healthy adult men estimated their body size using a yes-no paradigm for each combination of muscle mass/tone. We also measured participants' body composition with Harpenden callipers and their body concerns with psychometric questionnaires. We show that stimulus variation in apparent muscle mass/tone can introduce differences up to ∼2.5 BMIhse units in men's self-estimates of body size. Moreover, men with the same actual BMI, but different body composition, showed up to ∼5-7 BMIhse unit differences in self-estimates of body size. In the face of such large errors, we advocate that such judgments in men should be made instead by simultaneously manipulating both the adiposity and the muscle mass of stimuli which are appropriately calibrated for body composition, so that the participant can match the body size and shape they believe themselves to have to the stimulus they see.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vicki Groves
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Piers Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Kristofor McCarty
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Sophie Mohamed
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom
| | - Nadia Maalin
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom
| | | | - Katri Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
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38
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Stephen ID, Hunter K, Sturman D, Mond J, Stevenson RJ, Brooks KR. Experimental manipulation of visual attention affects body size adaptation but not body dissatisfaction. Int J Eat Disord 2018; 52:79-87. [PMID: 30565277 DOI: 10.1002/eat.22976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2018] [Revised: 10/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Prolonged exposure to large/small bodies causes aftereffects in perceived body size. Outside the laboratory, individuals repeatedly exposed to small (large) bodies tend to over- (under-) estimate their size and exhibit increased (decreased) body dissatisfaction. Why, among individuals exposed to approximately equivalent distributions of body sizes, only some develop body size and shape misperception and/or body dissatisfaction is not yet fully understood. METHOD We exposed 61 women to high and low adiposity bodies simultaneously, instructing half to attend to high, and half to low adiposity bodies. RESULTS Participants in the high adiposity attention condition's perception of "normal" body size significantly increased in adiposity, and vice versa. DISCUSSION This suggests that visual attention moderates body size aftereffects. Interventions encouraging visual attention to more realistic ranges of bodies may therefore reduce body misperception. No change in body dissatisfaction was found, suggesting that changes in the perceptual component (misperception) may not necessarily affect the attitudinal component (dissatisfaction) of body image distortion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian D Stephen
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
- Perception in Action Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Katie Hunter
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Daniel Sturman
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Jonathan Mond
- Centre for Rural Health, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia
- Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Richard J Stevenson
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
- Perception in Action Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Kevin R Brooks
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
- Perception in Action Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
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39
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Irvine KR, McCarty K, McKenzie KJ, Pollet TV, Cornelissen KK, Tovée MJ, Cornelissen PL. Distorted body image influences body schema in individuals with negative bodily attitudes. Neuropsychologia 2018; 122:38-50. [PMID: 30500663 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.11.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2018] [Revised: 10/10/2018] [Accepted: 11/26/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
There is now a considerable body of evidence to suggest that internal representations of the body can be meaningfully separated into at least two general levels; body image as a perceptual construct and body schema as a motor metric. However, recent studies with eating disordered individuals have suggested that there may in fact be more interaction between these two representations than first thought. We aimed to investigate how body image might act to influence body schema within a typical, healthy population. 100 healthy adult women were asked to judge the smallest gap between a pair of sliding doors that they could just pass through. We then determined whether these estimates were sufficient to predict the size of the smallest gap that they could actually pass through, or whether perceptual and attitudinal body image information was required in order to make these predictions. It was found that perceptual body image did indeed mediate performance on the egocentric (but not allocentric) motor imagery affordance task, but only for those individuals with raised body image concerns and low self-esteem; body schema was influenced by both the perceptual and attitudinal components of body image in those with more negative bodily attitudes. Furthermore, disparities between perceived versus actual size were associated with body parts that had larger variations in adipose/muscle-dependent circumference. We therefore suggest that it may be the affective salience of a distorted body representation that mediates the degree to which it is incorporated into the current body state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamila R Irvine
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, United Kingdom
| | - Kristofor McCarty
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, United Kingdom
| | - Kirsten J McKenzie
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN6 7TS, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas V Pollet
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, United Kingdom
| | - Katri K Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, United Kingdom
| | - Martin J Tovée
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN6 7TS, United Kingdom
| | - Piers L Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, United Kingdom.
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40
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Mazzurega M, Marisa J, Zampini M, Pavani F. Thinner than yourself: self-serving bias in body size estimation. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2018; 84:932-949. [PMID: 30467818 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-018-1119-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2018] [Accepted: 11/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The self-serving bias is the tendency to consider oneself in unrealistically positive terms. This phenomenon has been documented for body attractiveness, but it remains unclear to what extent it can also emerge for own body size perception. In the present study, we examined this issue in healthy young adults (45 females and 40 males), using two body size estimation (BSE) measures and taking into account inter-individual differences in eating disorder risk. Participants observed pictures of avatars, built from whole body photos of themselves or an unknown other matched for gender. Avatars were parametrically distorted along the thinness-heaviness dimension, and individualised by adding the head of the self or the other. In the first BSE task, participants indicated in each trial whether the seen avatar was thinner or fatter than themselves (or the other). In the second BSE task, participants chose the best representative body size for self and other from a set of avatars. Greater underestimation for self than other body size emerged in both tasks, comparably for women and men. Thinner bodies were also judged as more attractive, in line with standard of beauty in modern western society. Notably, this self-serving bias in BSE was stronger in people with low eating disorder risk. In sum, positive attitudes towards the self can extend to body size estimation in young adults, making own body size closer to the ideal body. We propose that this bias could play an adaptive role in preserving a positive body image.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mara Mazzurega
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto (Trento), Italy.
| | - Jlenia Marisa
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto (Trento), Italy
| | - Massimiliano Zampini
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto (Trento), Italy
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto (Trento), Italy
| | - Francesco Pavani
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto (Trento), Italy
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto (Trento), Italy
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41
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Thornborrow T, Jucker JL, Boothroyd LG, Tovée MJ. Investigating the link between television viewing and men's preferences for female body size and shape in rural Nicaragua. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
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42
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Solmi M, Gallicchio D, Collantoni E, Meneguzzo P, Zanetti T, Degortes D, Tenconi E, Bonello E, Veronese A, Ronzan A, Favaro A. The impact of weight suppression and weight loss speed on baseline clinical characteristics and response to treatment. Int J Eat Disord 2018; 51:542-548. [PMID: 29601104 DOI: 10.1002/eat.22861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2017] [Revised: 03/08/2018] [Accepted: 03/08/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Growing evidence suggests an impact of weight suppression (WS) on severity and course of symptoms in patients with eating disorders (ED), but no study explored also the role of the weight loss speed (WLS) together with WS on the same clinical variables, which is the aim of the present work. METHOD A mixed cross-sectional and longitudinal cohort study was employed. Four hundred and fourteen patients with anorexia nervosa (AN = 208) or bulimia nervosa (BN = 206) according to DSM-5 criteria were recruited and assessed at referral by means of clinical interviews and self-reported questionnaires. Body mass index and diagnostic status were re-evaluated at the end of treatment. RESULTS WS was positively correlated with body dissatisfaction in patients with AN (p = .005), but negatively correlated in BN (p = .022). In contrast, WLS was significantly inversely correlated with age and duration of illness in all ED (p < .001), and positively correlated with drive for thinness in BN (p = .007). After treatment, WS at intake predicted higher BMI increase in both AN and BN (p < .03), while higher WLS was significantly associated with a lower drop-out rate in patients with BN (p = .02), and predicted BMI increase only in restricting AN patients (p = .02). In the whole group, WLS significantly predicted remission status (p = .039). DISCUSSION In our study, both WS and WLS were associated with baseline "core" clinical variables and provided complementary abilities to predict weight gain and remission at the end of treatment. If replicated, our data suggest the importance of considering both WS and WLS as useful clinical variables in the baseline assessment of ED.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Solmi
- Neuroscience Department, Psychiatry Unit, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.,Psychiatry Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy
| | - Davide Gallicchio
- Neuroscience Department, Psychiatry Unit, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Enrico Collantoni
- Neuroscience Department, Psychiatry Unit, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Paolo Meneguzzo
- Neuroscience Department, Psychiatry Unit, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Tatiana Zanetti
- Neuroscience Department, Psychiatry Unit, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Daniela Degortes
- Neuroscience Department, Psychiatry Unit, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Elena Tenconi
- Neuroscience Department, Psychiatry Unit, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.,Psychiatry Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy
| | - Elisa Bonello
- Psychiatry Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy
| | | | - Andrea Ronzan
- Psychiatry Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy
| | - Angela Favaro
- Neuroscience Department, Psychiatry Unit, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.,Psychiatry Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy
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43
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Mölbert SC, Thaler A, Mohler BJ, Streuber S, Romero J, Black MJ, Zipfel S, Karnath HO, Giel KE. Assessing body image in anorexia nervosa using biometric self-avatars in virtual reality: Attitudinal components rather than visual body size estimation are distorted. Psychol Med 2018; 48:642-653. [PMID: 28745268 PMCID: PMC5964466 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291717002008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2017] [Revised: 06/20/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Body image disturbance (BID) is a core symptom of anorexia nervosa (AN), but as yet distinctive features of BID are unknown. The present study aimed at disentangling perceptual and attitudinal components of BID in AN. METHODS We investigated n = 24 women with AN and n = 24 controls. Based on a three-dimensional (3D) body scan, we created realistic virtual 3D bodies (avatars) for each participant that were varied through a range of ±20% of the participants' weights. Avatars were presented in a virtual reality mirror scenario. Using different psychophysical tasks, participants identified and adjusted their actual and their desired body weight. To test for general perceptual biases in estimating body weight, a second experiment investigated perception of weight and shape matched avatars with another identity. RESULTS Women with AN and controls underestimated their weight, with a trend that women with AN underestimated more. The average desired body of controls had normal weight while the average desired weight of women with AN corresponded to extreme AN (DSM-5). Correlation analyses revealed that desired body weight, but not accuracy of weight estimation, was associated with eating disorder symptoms. In the second experiment, both groups estimated accurately while the most attractive body was similar to Experiment 1. CONCLUSIONS Our results contradict the widespread assumption that patients with AN overestimate their body weight due to visual distortions. Rather, they illustrate that BID might be driven by distorted attitudes with regard to the desired body. Clinical interventions should aim at helping patients with AN to change their desired weight.
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Affiliation(s)
- S. C. Mölbert
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and
Psychotherapy, Medical University Hospital
Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Biological
Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
- Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience,
International Max Planck Research School, Universität Tübingen,
Tübingen, Germany
| | - A. Thaler
- Max Planck Institute for Biological
Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
- Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience,
International Max Planck Research School, Universität Tübingen,
Tübingen, Germany
| | - B. J. Mohler
- Max Planck Institute for Biological
Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
| | - S. Streuber
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Brain
Mind Institute, Lausanne,
Switzerland
| | - J. Romero
- Max Planck Institute for Intelligent
Systems, Tübingen, Germany
| | - M. J. Black
- Max Planck Institute for Intelligent
Systems, Tübingen, Germany
| | - S. Zipfel
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and
Psychotherapy, Medical University Hospital
Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - H.-O. Karnath
- Division of Neuropsychology,
Center of Neurology, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University
of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - K. E. Giel
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and
Psychotherapy, Medical University Hospital
Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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44
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Cornelissen PL, Cornelissen KK, Groves V, McCarty K, Tovée MJ. View-dependent accuracy in body mass judgements of female bodies. Body Image 2018; 24:116-123. [PMID: 29414144 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2017] [Revised: 12/20/2017] [Accepted: 12/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
A fundamental issue in testing body image perception is how to present the test stimuli. Previous studies have almost exclusively used images of bodies viewed in front-view, but this potentially obscures key visual cues used to judge adiposity reducing the ability to make accurate judgements. A potential solution is to use a three-quarter view, which combines visual cues to body fat that can be observed in front and profile. To test this hypothesis, 20 female observers completed a 2-alternative forced choice paradigm to determine the smallest difference in body fat detectable in female bodies in front, three-quarter, and profile view. There was a significant advantage for three-quarter and profile relative to front-view. Discrimination accuracy is predicted by the saliency of stomach depth, suggesting that this is a key visual cue used to judge body mass. In future, bodies should ideally be presented in three-quarter to accurately assess body size discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piers L Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Katri K Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Victoria Groves
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Kristofor McCarty
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Martin J Tovée
- School of Psychology, College of Social Science, University of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN6 7TS, UK.
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45
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Body size estimation of self and others in females varying in BMI. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0192152. [PMID: 29425218 PMCID: PMC5806871 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2017] [Accepted: 01/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous literature suggests that a disturbed ability to accurately identify own body size may contribute to overweight. Here, we investigated the influence of personal body size, indexed by body mass index (BMI), on body size estimation in a non-clinical population of females varying in BMI. We attempted to disentangle general biases in body size estimates and attitudinal influences by manipulating whether participants believed the body stimuli (personalized avatars with realistic weight variations) represented their own body or that of another person. Our results show that the accuracy of own body size estimation is predicted by personal BMI, such that participants with lower BMI underestimated their body size and participants with higher BMI overestimated their body size. Further, participants with higher BMI were less likely to notice the same percentage of weight gain than participants with lower BMI. Importantly, these results were only apparent when participants were judging a virtual body that was their own identity (Experiment 1), but not when they estimated the size of a body with another identity and the same underlying body shape (Experiment 2a). The different influences of BMI on accuracy of body size estimation and sensitivity to weight change for self and other identity suggests that effects of BMI on visual body size estimation are self-specific and not generalizable to other bodies.
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46
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Fat or fiction? Effects of body size, eating pathology, and sex upon the body schema of an undergraduate population. Body Image 2017; 23:135-145. [PMID: 28992582 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2016] [Revised: 09/24/2017] [Accepted: 09/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Although there is a growing consensus that women with anorexia nervosa have a distorted body schema, the origins of this disturbance remain uncertain. The present investigation examined the effects of body size, eating pathology, and sex upon the body schema of an at-risk, undergraduate population. In Study 1, 98 participants mentally simulated their passage through apertures. When aperture width was manipulated, narrow and broad women over- and under-estimated their spatial requirements for passage, respectively. This relationship was exacerbated by dietary restraint. When aperture height was manipulated, short and tall men over- and under-estimated their spatial requirements for passage, respectively. Study 2 (N=32) replicated the association between women's veridical and internally-represented widths, although no significant effects of eating pathology were observed. Our findings suggest that body schema enlargement is not necessarily pathological, and may be driven by normal perceptual biases and internalised sociocultural body ideals.
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47
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Steinsbekk S, Klöckner CA, Fildes A, Kristoffersen P, Rognsås SL, Wichstrøm L. Body Size Estimation from Early to Middle Childhood: Stability of Underestimation, BMI, and Gender Effects. Front Psychol 2017; 8:2038. [PMID: 29209262 PMCID: PMC5702321 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2017] [Accepted: 11/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals who are overweight are more likely to underestimate their body size than those who are normal weight, and overweight underestimators are less likely to engage in weight loss efforts. Underestimation of body size might represent a barrier to prevention and treatment of overweight; thus insight in how underestimation of body size develops and tracks through the childhood years is needed. The aim of the present study was therefore to examine stability in children's underestimation of body size, exploring predictors of underestimation over time. The prospective path from underestimation to BMI was also tested. In a Norwegian cohort of 6 year olds, followed up at ages 8 and 10 (analysis sample: n = 793) body size estimation was captured by the Children's Body Image Scale, height and weight were measured and BMI calculated. Overall, children were more likely to underestimate than overestimate their body size. Individual stability in underestimation was modest, but significant. Higher BMI predicted future underestimation, even when previous underestimation was adjusted for, but there was no evidence for the opposite direction of influence. Boys were more likely than girls to underestimate their body size at ages 8 and 10 (age 8: 38.0% vs. 24.1%; Age 10: 57.9% vs. 30.8%) and showed a steeper increase in underestimation with age compared to girls. In conclusion, the majority of 6, 8, and 10-year olds correctly estimate their body size (prevalence ranging from 40 to 70% depending on age and gender), although a substantial portion perceived themselves to be thinner than they actually were. Higher BMI forecasted future underestimation, but underestimation did not increase the risk for excessive weight gain in middle childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silje Steinsbekk
- Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Christian A. Klöckner
- Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Alison Fildes
- Institute of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Pernille Kristoffersen
- Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Stine L. Rognsås
- Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Lars Wichstrøm
- Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- Human Development, NTNU Social Research, Trondheim, Norway
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48
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Cornelissen KK, McCarty K, Cornelissen PL, Tovée MJ. Body size estimation in women with anorexia nervosa and healthy controls using 3D avatars. Sci Rep 2017; 7:15773. [PMID: 29150646 PMCID: PMC5693901 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-15339-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2017] [Accepted: 10/16/2017] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
A core feature of anorexia nervosa is an over-estimation of body size. However, quantifying this over-estimation has been problematic as existing methodologies introduce a series of artefacts and inaccuracies in the stimuli used for judgements of body size. To overcome these problems, we have: (i) taken 3D scans of 15 women who have symptoms of anorexia (referred to henceforth as anorexia spectrum disorders, ANSD) and 15 healthy control women, (ii) used a 3D modelling package to build avatars from the scans, (iii) manipulated the body shapes of these avatars to reflect biometrically accurate, continuous changes in body mass index (BMI), (iv) used these personalized avatars as stimuli to allow the women to estimate their body size. The results show that women who are currently receiving treatment for ANSD show an over-estimation of body size which rapidly increases as their own BMI increases. By contrast, the women acting as healthy controls can accurately estimate their body size irrespective of their own BMI. This study demonstrates the viability of combining 3D scanning and CGI techniques to create personalised realistic avatars of individual patients to directly assess their body image perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katri K Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, United Kingdom
| | - Kristofor McCarty
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, United Kingdom
| | - Piers L Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, United Kingdom
| | - Martin J Tovée
- School of Psychology, Lincoln University, Lincoln, LN6 7TS, United Kingdom.
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49
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION Cognitive neuropsychiatry has had much success in providing theoretical models for the causal origins of many delusional beliefs. Recently, it has been suggested that some anorexia nervosa patients' beliefs about their own body size should be considered delusions. As such, it seems high time the methods of cognitive neuropsychiatry were turned to modelling the false body size beliefs of anorexics. METHODS In this paper, I adopt an empiricist approach to modelling the causal origins of false body size beliefs in anorexia. Within the background of cognitive neuropsychiatry, empiricist models claim that abnormal beliefs are grounded by abnormal experiences bearing similar content. RESULTS I discuss the kinds of abnormal experiences of body size anorexics suffer from which could ground their false beliefs about body size. These oversized experiences come in three varieties: false self-other body comparisons, spontaneous mental imagery of a fat body and distorted perception of affordances. CONCLUSIONS Further theoretical and empirical research into the oversized experiences which anorexics suffer from presents a promising avenue for understanding and treating the disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Gadsby
- a School of Philosophical, Historical & International Studies , Monash University , Melbourne , Australia
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50
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Mölbert SC, Klein L, Thaler A, Mohler BJ, Brozzo C, Martus P, Karnath HO, Zipfel S, Giel KE. Depictive and metric body size estimation in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev 2017; 57:21-31. [PMID: 28818670 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2017.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2016] [Revised: 07/06/2017] [Accepted: 08/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
A distorted representation of one's own body is a diagnostic criterion and core psychopathology of both anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). Despite recent technical advances in research, it is still unknown whether this body image disturbance is characterized by body dissatisfaction and a low ideal weight and/or includes a distorted perception or processing of body size. In this article, we provide an update and meta-analysis of 42 articles summarizing measures and results for body size estimation (BSE) from 926 individuals with AN, 536 individuals with BN and 1920 controls. We replicate findings that individuals with AN and BN overestimate their body size as compared to controls (ES=0.63). Our meta-regression shows that metric methods (BSE by direct or indirect spatial measures) yield larger effect sizes than depictive methods (BSE by evaluating distorted pictures), and that effect sizes are larger for patients with BN than for patients with AN. To interpret these results, we suggest a revised theoretical framework for BSE that accounts for differences between depictive and metric BSE methods regarding the underlying body representations (conceptual vs. perceptual, implicit vs. explicit). We also discuss clinical implications and argue for the importance of multimethod approaches to investigate body image disturbance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Claire Mölbert
- Medical University Hospital Tübingen, Dpt. of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Tübingen, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany; Center of Neurology, Division of Neuropsychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, International Max Planck Research School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Lukas Klein
- Medical University Hospital Tübingen, Dpt. of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Anne Thaler
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany; Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, International Max Planck Research School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Betty J Mohler
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Chiara Brozzo
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Peter Martus
- Institute for Epidemiology and Applied Biometry, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hans-Otto Karnath
- Center of Neurology, Division of Neuropsychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Stephan Zipfel
- Medical University Hospital Tübingen, Dpt. of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Katrin Elisabeth Giel
- Medical University Hospital Tübingen, Dpt. of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Tübingen, Germany
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