Abstract
Body checking (BC) is not only inherent to the maintenance of eating disorders but is also widespread among healthy females. According to etiological models, while BC serves as an affect-regulating behavior in the short term, in the longer term it is assumed to be disorder-maintaining and also produces more negative affect. The present study therefore aimed to empirically examine the proposed longer-term consequences of increased BC. In an online study, N = 167 women tracked their daily amount of BC over a total of 7 days: Following a 1-day baseline assessment of typical BC, participants were asked to check their bodies in an typical manner for 3 days and with a 3-fold increased frequency for 3-days. Before and after each BC episode, the impact of BC on affect, eating disorder symptoms, general pathology and endorsement of different functions of BC was assessed. Participants showed longer-term consequences of increased BC in terms of increased negative affect and general pathology, while eating disorder symptoms remained unaffected. In the case of typical BC, participants showed decreased general pathology and anxiety. Furthermore, the endorsement of a higher number of BC functions led to increased negative affect and an increased amount of typical BC. The findings support the theoretically assumed role of maladaptive BC in maintaining negative emotion in the longer term. However, though requiring replication, our finding of positive effects of typical BC calls into question the overall dysfunctionality of BC among non-clinical women who are not at risk of developing an eating disorder.
Highlights
Body checking (BC) describes the repeated evaluation of one’s own body [1]
While participants were asked to triple their BC in the experimental condition, mean comparisons indicated that they only doubled their amount of BC
Besides the negative consequences of increased checking, we found an unexpected decrease in general pathology in the control condition, indicating that our non-clinical participants seem to have benefited from typical BC
Summary
Body checking (BC) describes the repeated evaluation of one’s own body [1] It occurs in several mental disorders such as body dysmorphic disorder [BDD [2]] or illness anxiety disorder [3], but is most commonly known in the context of eating disorders (EDs). Common strategies include repeated weighing or mirror gazing, measuring or pinching body parts, or trying the fit of clothes to assess one’s body size [9]. It may involve other people, in terms of comparing one’s appearance to that of others [10] or asking others for reassurance regarding one’s appearance [11]. BC nowadays encompasses new types of behaviors such as taking selfies and repeatedly checking one’s appearance in them [12], checking one’s body parts in photos uploaded to social media [c.f. [13]], participating in social media challenges (e.g., “skinny check”), or comparing one’s size, shape, and weight to other digitally posted bodies on social media platforms [14]
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