Taking a closer look at body processing in binge eating disorder – Influence of BMI and eating pathology

Abstract

Individuals with binge eating disorder (BED) show preferred attention allocation towards their own (vs. another) body, and towards self-disliked (vs. self-liked) body parts. It remains unclear whether these gaze patterns are a consequence of underlying eating pathology or increased weight. In this study, women with BED (N = 73), overweight (N = 38) and healthy weight (N = 42) female control groups (CG) performed two eye-tracking paradigms using pictures of their own and a control-body. In task 1 (processing their own vs. a control-body), the BED group displayed a stronger preference for the own body during more automatic processing relative to the overweight CG, whereas the healthy weight CG showed a balanced attention distribution between both bodies. In task 2, all groups showed a bias towards the most unattractive relative to the most attractive part of their own body. This was strongest in the BED and overweight groups, but only the BED group showed a negative bias towards the control-body. Results indicate a stronger self-focused and deficit-oriented bias in the BED group but also some abnormalities in overweight individuals. Future studies should test whether these biases are modifiable, and whether their modification improves body image.