Perceptual Body Image Research Articles

Embodiment of underweight and normal-weight avatars affects bodily self-representations in anorexia nervosa

Body image distortion (BID) is a crucial aspect of anorexia nervosa (AN), leading to body overestimation, dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem. BID significantly influences the onset, maintenance, and relapse of the pathology. We assessed whether a Full Body Illusion (FBI) using under and normal-weight avatars’ bodies affects perceptual body image and body schema estimations in both individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) and healthy controls (HC). After each embodiment procedure, we asked participants to estimate the width of their hips (Perceptual Body Image Task) and the minimum aperture width of a virtual door necessary to pass through it (Body Schema Task). Additionally, we asked participants to rate the avatars in terms of self-similarity, attractiveness, and implicit disgust (i.e., pleasant/unpleasant body odour). Whereas participants with AN (N = 26) showed changes in body schema estimations after embodying the normal-weight avatar, no changes were found in HC (N = 25), highlighting increased bodily self-plasticity in AN. Notably, individuals with AN rated the normal weight avatar as the most similar to their real body, which was also considered the least attractive and the most repulsive. These ratings correlated with BID severity. Furthermore, at the explicit level, all participants reported feeling thinner than usual after embodying the underweight avatar. Overall, our findings suggest that BID in AN engages multiple sensory channels (from visual to olfactory) and components (from perceptual to affective), offering potential targets for innovative non-invasive treatments aimed at modifying flexible aspects of body representation.

Disturbed body schema, perceptual body image, and attitudinal body image in patients with borderline personality disorder.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental disorder that affects attitudes toward the body. However, whether this condition also affects body schema and perceptual body image remains unclear. Previous questionnaire-based studies found dissatisfaction with one's body in patients with BPD. In addition to attitudinal body image, our study investigates whether body schema and perceptual body image are disturbed in patients with BPD. Our study included 31 patients diagnosed with BPD (25 women) and 30 healthy individuals (19 women) (Mage = 29 for both groups). The SCID-5-PD interview was used to determine personality disorder. Attitudinal body image was measured using the Body Attitude Test (BAT) factors. Body schema and perceptual body image were measured by two conditions of a body representation task, the body portraying method (BPM). BPD patients achieved higher scores in all three BAT factors and were more susceptible to misinformation in both conditions of BPM. Based on the results, BPD patients appear to have more negative attitudes toward their bodies and worse perceptual body image and body schema. The novel finding of our study is that, besides the previously found attitudinal dissatisfaction with the body, individuals with BPD also show disturbances at the levels of body schema and perceptual body image. Our findings concerning disturbances in body schema and perceptual body need further research into their etiological factors and provide new therapeutic targets for the treatment of BPD.

Validation of a Novel Perceptual Body Image Assessment Method Using Mobile Digital Imaging Analysis: A Cross-Sectional Multicenter Evaluation in a Multiethnic Sample

Given that mobile digital imaging analyses (DIA) are equipped to automate body composition and subsequently alter one’s appearance at a given objective body fat percent (BF%), the purpose of this study was to validate the use of this tool for assessments of body image. Participants (f = 134, m = 89) from two separate centers underwent body composition scans using a mobile DIA and completed the Multidimensional Body Self-Relations Questionnaire–Appearance Scale (MBSRQ-AS). Using a DIA-generated avatar, participants altered their figure so that it represented their perceived body, ideal body, and what a partner would find attractive. Distortion was calculated as perceived minus actual BF% and dissatisfaction was calculated as either ideal or partner minus perceived BF%. The total sample and females (p < 0.050), but not males, had significantly lower perceived BF% compared to their actual. Ideal and partner BF% was significantly lower than the perceived BF% for all groups (all p < 0.050). Ideal and partner BF% mean differences (MD) from perceived were positively associated with appearance evaluation (AE) and body area satisfaction (BAS) and negatively associated with overweight preoccupation and self-classified weight for the total sample (all p < 0.050). PerceivedMD demonstrated negative associations with AE and BAS (p < 0.050), but only for females when separated by sex. Perceptual body image measured by DIA is significantly associated with attitudinal body image and may allow practitioners to better quantify this growing issue.

Mirror exposure following visual body-size adaptation does not affect own body image.

Prolonged visual exposure to large bodies produces a thinning aftereffect on subsequently seen bodies, and vice versa. This visual adaptation effect could contribute to the link between media exposure and body shape misperception. Indeed, people exposed to thin bodies in the media, who experience fattening aftereffects, may internalize the distorted image of their body they see in the mirror. This preregistered study tested this internalization hypothesis by exposing 196 young women to an obese adaptor before showing them their reflection in the mirror, or to a control condition. Then, we used a psychophysical task to measure the effects of this procedure on perceptual judgements about their own body size, relative to another body and to the control mirror exposure condition. We found moderate evidence against the hypothesized self-specific effects of mirror exposure on perceptual judgements. Our work strengthens the idea that body size adaptation affects the perception of test stimuli rather than the participants' own body image. We discuss recent studies which may provide an alternative framework to study media-related distortions of perceptual body image.

Body Uneasiness, Body Figure Perception, and Body Weight: Factor Structure and Longitudinal Measurement Invariance of a Set of Attitudinal and Perceptual Body Image Assessment Tools in Adolescents.

Body image is a multifaceted construct that includes attitudinal and perceptual components, but its attention has mainly been focused on the facet of body dissatisfaction. The present longitudinal study extended the validation of a multifacet attitudinal questionnaire, the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT), against perceptions of body shape and weight. A convenient sample of adolescents took part in a 2-year unbalanced panel study (5 waves). The participants completed the BUT questionnaire and selected their perceived actual, ideal, and reflected body figures along the Contour Drawing Rating Scale; ideal/actual and ideal/normative body mass index discrepancies were also included. After replicating the expected five-factor structure of the BUT items, results from confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the five BUT scales loaded on an attitudinal dimension, whereas the perceived body figures and the discrepancy indices were on a perceptive domain. Such a two-domain structure of body image measures showed gender and seasonal (1-year) measurement invariance, whereas longitudinal 6-month and 18-month invariance partially failed. Overall, the present findings support the validity of the Body Uneasiness Test in adolescence, further demonstrating a preliminary multidimensional structure of body image onto which attitudinal and perceptual body image-related measures were projected.

SPECTRUM, ASSOCIATE AND PREDICTORS OF PERCEPTUAL BODY IMAGE OF URBAN ADOLESCENT GIRLS: FINDINGS FOR A COMMUNITY BASED STUDY FROM NORTH INDIA

This community based cross sectional study was done to nd out Spectrum, Associate and predictors of perceptual body image of urban adolescent girls; ndings for a community based study from north India.After obtaining consent of parents and accent of subjects, data was collected from the subjects by interview technique using pre-designed and pretested Performa.Each study subject was specially interviewed for their perception about own body. In order to nd out associate of PBI information about possible factors were obtained. Anthropometric measurements (weight and height) were done and their body mass was computed. Data management and statistical analysis: Analysis of data was done for infercial purpose logistic regration analysis was applied. Results:As much as 80.0% and 20% subjects had positive and negative perceptual body image respectively.Mother education, habit of news paper reading daily and sometimes plus ever,self esteem, representation through media , reorganization of westernized diet batter than traditional Indian diet were the signicant pridictors of perceptive body image.

“My body…tends to betray me sometimes”: a Qualitative Analysis of Affective and Perceptual Body Image in Individuals Living with Endometriosis

BackgroundEndometriosis is a chronic reproductive disease manifesting in physical symptoms including pain, abdominal swelling, altered bowel and bladder function, and fatigue. These symptoms potentially threaten body image regarding subjective perceptions of functional, appearance, and sensory aspects of one’s body. The aim of this study was to qualitatively understand how endometriosis impacts on affective and perceptual aspects of body image.MethodParticipants (N = 40) were recruited through endometriosis consumer organizations. In an online survey, participants completed demographic and health history questions, then provided written narratives about body image–related impacts of their endometriosis in response to open-ended questions. These data were thematically analyzed using the template approach.FindingsThe majority of participants (Mage = 28.3 years) were employed part-time, diagnosed on average for 4.2 years, and reported pelvic pain and bloating, fatigue, and nausea symptoms. Thematic analysis yielded three themes including My Body is a Barrier, Needing to Hide Myself, and Body as Healer and Teacher, all of which reflected affective and perceptual aspects of body image.ConclusionThese findings highlight wide-ranging body image–related impacts of endometriosis, suggesting the need for targeted interventions to address these concerns.

Predictors of Health-Related Quality of Life in Women with Lupus

Introduction: Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune progressive connective tissue disease characterized by multiple organ involvement and a highly variable clinical course. The aim of this study was to predict the health-related quality of life of women with lupus based on perceived stress, fear of perceptual body image and psychological resilience.&#x0D; Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 189 women with lupus in Hafez Hospital in Shiraz in 2019. Data were collected through the quality of life questionnaire (LupusQol), perceived stress questionnaire (PSS-14), body image fear inventory (BICI), and Conners and Davidson Technology Questionnaire, and they were analyzed using SPSS version 16 software with descriptive statistics and linear regression.&#x0D; Results: The mean age and duration of the disease were 40.37±9.47 and 9.45±6.01 years, respectively. Based on the level of education, 43.79% of the patients were undergraduates, 86.8% were housewives and 57.7% were in the active phase of the disease. The mean score of resilience was 67.56±16.07, quality of life 57.30±22.68, stress 25.31±7.78 and fear of body image was 37.07±13.96. Stress, fear of body image, resilience, disease phase, education and occupation accounted for 52% of the total quality of life variability.&#x0D; Conclusion: The quality of life of the women with lupus is affected by the variables such as stress, fear of body image and resilience. Thus, the higher the stress and fear of body image in women with lupus and the lower the rate of resilience, the lower the quality of life.

Drawings or 3D models: Do illustration methods matter when assessing perceived body size and body dissatisfaction?

Research has reported that both men and women experience body dissatisfaction. Among other instruments, a widely used method to assess perceived body size and body dissatisfaction are figure rating scales. Although a variety of illustration methods (e.g., three-dimensional, or 3D, models and line-drawing models) have been used to create these figure rating scales, to date, they have not been directly compared to one another. Thus, in the first study, which includes 511 participants at a mean age of 46 years old (range: 20–70), the present research work aims to assess how the line-drawing and 3D model scales, representing different body illustration methods, relate to each other. Furthermore, the first study assesses the validity of the indication of body dissatisfaction measured using these figure rating scales by comparing them to body checking or scrutinizing behavior and body appreciation levels. The project’s second study examines the two figure rating scales using objectively measured anthropometric data. In total, 239 participants at a mean age of 54 years (range: 18–94) were included. The results show that figure rating scales can be considered tools that measure perceptual body image due to their positive correlations with body checking behavior (for women) and their negative correlations with body appreciation. The 3D model and line-drawing scales show good to excellent inter-scale reliability, and both scales agree equally well with body mass index (BMI) measurements. Thus, the 3D model and line-drawing scales both seem well suited for assessing perceived body size and perceptual body dissatisfaction, suggesting that neither illustration method is superior to the other.

Weight misperception and its associations with eating disorder symptoms over the course of residential eating disorder treatment.

Although individuals with eating disorders (EDs) often experience significant body dissatisfaction and perceptual body image distortions, the presence and impact of weight misperception in clinical samples have been minimally examined. The aims of this study were to quantify weight misperception in individuals with EDs, examine whether weight misperception predicts ED severity at treatment discharge, and explore changes in weight misperception across treatment. Participants were 98 women seeking residential treatment for their ED who reported weekly on their perceived weight. Objectively measured weight was subtracted from perceived weight to determine weekly "weight misperception." Participants completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) at intake and discharge to assess ED severity. Weight misperception at intake and change in weight misperception over treatment were examined as predictors of ED pathology at discharge. Approximately 74.5% of the sample overestimated their weight, with an average weight misperception of 2.7 (SD=5.6) pounds (1.2kg; SD=2.5). Weight misperception spanned from -6.2 to 43.6 pounds (-2.8 to 19.8kg) and did not differ based on ED diagnosis. On average, weight misperception increased throughout treatment. Greater weight misperception at intake as well as greater increases in weight misperception over treatment significantly predicted EDE-Q scores at discharge. Findings highlight that weight misperception is not limited to underweight patients. Misperceiving one's weight may predict symptom severity across a range of EDs, and future research is needed to examine whether targeting weight misperception during residential treatment could improve treatment outcomes for individuals with EDs.

The Beautiful and the Fit Reap the Spoils: Body Image as a Condition for the Positive Effects of Electronic Media Communication on Well-being Among Early Adolescents

The effects of electronic media communication (EMC) and social media on young people’s health and well-being remain under debate, with no conclusive evidence on the connection between the two. By using data on 1,843 early adolescents aged 12–17 years provided by the Danish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models and by measuring the intensity of EMC instead of the time spent on social media, the study finds that early adolescents tend to experience greater feelings of well-being with a higher intensity of EMC. However, this relationship is conditional. A negative perceptual body image acts as a moderator of the relationship between the intensity of EMC and well-being, whereas the positive relationship between EMC disappears under the condition of a negative body image. These findings provide nuance to the debates on the ways in which EMC affects young people.

Body weight and self-perception are associated with depression: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005–2016

BackgroundDespite evidence suggesting that perceptual body image measurements are strongly associated with depression, few studies examined the association between perceptual body image and depression in adults. This study aimed to investigate the association of different measures of perceptual body image measurements with depression. MethodsWe analyzed data of 22,735 adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2005 and 2016. Depression was ascertained using the validated Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and depression was defined as PHQ score ≥10. The associations of measured body mass index (BMI) and body image (i.e., self-reported BMI, BMI discordance, perceived weight, and desired weight) with depression were assessed using logistic regression. ResultsWomen perceiving themselves as overweight or reporting their BMI as obese had significantly higher odds of depression (odds ratio [OR] 1.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17–1.72 and 1.29, 1.04–1.60, respectively) compared to women perceiving themselves as about the right weight or reporting their BMI as normal. The association between perceived overweight and depression was independent of measured BMI (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.09–1.72). Men perceiving themselves as underweight had higher odds of depression (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.06–2.11) than men perceiving themselves as about the right weight. In women, but not in men, measured obesity was associated with higher odds of depression. LimitationsThe study's cross-sectional design and missing information on comorbidities. ConclusionWeight perception (in women and men), measured BMI and BMI discordance in women are associated with depression..

Body Size Judgments at 17 ms: Evidence From Perceptual and Attitudinal Body Image Indexes.

Evidence related to temporal control for stimuli presentation of whole-body image is generally associated with attentional bias to ideal thin bodies. Few studies present evidence concerning whole-body stimuli recognition during fast visual exposure intervals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and reaction times for the judgment of different sized body silhouettes presented at 17 ms in a non-clinical sample. Thirty-one participants were divided in attitudinal and perceptual body image groups based on Figure Rating Scale output and performed two experiments. First experiment assessed perception and the clarity of visual experience for human and non-human body stimuli at 17 ms. A general accuracy of 69.17% was registered with no differences between perceptual and attitudinal body image groups. These results indicated that the way participants perceive their own bodies does not influence the recognition of general visual silhouette stimuli. It was also observed that the clarity of visual experience is positively correlated to stimuli recognition accuracy. In the second experiment participants had to respond in a seven-point Likert scale if the presented image of body silhouettes were bigger, equal or thinner than their own bodies. Trials were divided in two blocks based on spatial rotation, half at 0° and half at 180°. General accuracy for body silhouettes recognition was 41.1%. Greater accuracy recognition for regular positioned stimuli was observed. Attitudinal dimension of body image was not a predictor of differential performance whereas perceptual body image groups recorded contrasting recognition performance. Distorted body image participants presented higher accuracy than undistorted body image participants, with greater accuracy to thinner silhouette figures. Women had significantly higher overall accuracy than men considering both experimental blocks. When comparing the cumulative accuracy curves across experimental trials, an exposure effect was registered only for the first experiment. Results showed that body silhouette stimuli were judged in a fast exposure interval with differential accuracy rates only for perceptual body image groups. Such evidence signals that conscious body image can be associated to implicit detection of visual human body stimuli. Future studies should further test how traditional explicit body image outputs perform within experimental approaches.

The rubber hand illusion is influenced by self-recognition

Susceptibility to the Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) demonstrates that body ownership can be modulated by visuotactile inputs. In contrast to body-like images, other objects cannot be embodied suggesting that crossmodal interactions on body ownership are based on a ‘goodness-of-fit’ mechanism relative to one’s own body. However, it is not clear whether visual self-recognition influences susceptibility to the RHI, although evidence for individual differences in the perceptual body image on the RHI suggests that this may be the case. We investigated the role of self-recognition on the subjective experience of the RHI and measured proprioceptive drift and onset time of the RHI between two groups, one with the ability to identify an image of their own hand and the other without this ability. A typical RHI response was found overall with no group difference in the subjective experience of the RHI. However, a larger proprioceptive drift and an earlier onset time for the RHI was found for the non-recognisers than the self-recognition group. Our findings provide evidence for a link between a visual representation of one’s own body in long-term memory and plasticity of the body representation.

Are attitudinal and perceptual body image the same or different? Evidence from high-level adaptation

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.

Perceptual Distortions of 3-D Finger Size.

Our body is a volumetric, three-dimensional (3-D) object in the world, and we experience it as such. Existing methods for measuring the perceptual body image, however, have been based on judgments of one-dimensional (1-D) length or two-dimensional images. We developed a new approach to the 3-D perceptual body image of the fingers by asking people to judge whether each finger would fit through rings of varying diameter. This task requires participants to conceptualize their finger as a volumetric object entering the ring. In two experiments, we used an adaptive staircase procedure to estimate the perceived size of each finger. There were systematic distortions of perceived 3-D finger size, with the size of index finger and (to a lesser extent) the middle finger underestimated. These distortions were unaffected by changes in hand posture. Notably, the pattern of distortions is qualitatively different from that found in previous research investigating 1-D finger length, suggesting that 3-D judgments of the body may differ in fundamental ways from 1-D judgments of individual body dimensions.

Distorted body image influences body schema in individuals with negative bodily attitudes

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.

Effects of perceptual body image distortion and early weight gain on long-term outcome of adolescent anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia nervosa (AN), a severe mental disorder with an onset during adolescence, has been found to be difficult to treat. Identifying variables that predict long-term outcome may help to develop better treatment strategies. Since body image distortion and weight gain are central elements of diagnosis and treatment of AN, the current study investigated perceptual body image distortion, defined as the accuracy of evaluating one's own perceived body size in relation to the actual body size, as well as total and early weight gain during inpatient treatment as predictors for long-term outcome in a sample of 76 female adolescent AN patients. Long-term outcome was defined by physical, psychological and psychosocial adjustment using the Morgan-Russell outcome assessment schedule as well as by the mere physical outcome consisting of menses and/or BMI approximately 3years after treatment. Perceptual body image distortion and early weight gain predicted long-term outcome (explained variance 13.3%), but not the physical outcome alone. This study provides first evidence for an association of perceptual body image distortion with long-term outcome of adolescent anorexia nervosa and underlines the importance of sufficient early weight gain.

Altered Visual Adaptation to Body Shape in Eating Disorders: Implications for Body Image Distortion.

Previous research has shown that after adapting to a thin body, healthy participants (HP) perceive pictures of their own bodies as being fatter and vice versa. This aftereffect might contribute to the development of perceptual body image disturbances in eating disorders (ED).In the present study, HP and ED completed a behavioral experiment to rate manipulated pictures of their own bodies after adaptation to thin or fat body pictures. After adapting to a thin body, HP judged a thinner than actual body picture to be the most realistic and vice versa, resembling a typical aftereffect. ED only showed such an adaptation effect when they adapted to fat body pictures.The reported results indicate a relationship between body image distortion in ED and visual body image adaptation. It can be suspected that due to a pre-existing, long-lasting adaptation to thin body shapes in ED, an additional visual adaption to thin body shapes cannot be induced. Hence this pre-existing adaptation to thin body shapes could induce perceptual body image distortions in ED.

The impact of perceptual, cognitive and behavioural factors on dissociative experiences and body disturbance in eating disorders: an exploratory study

ABSTRACTDissociation is observed in eating disorders (EDs) and has been linked to body image disturbance. Evidence suggests dissociation may undermine the stability of body image and create a vulnerability to body dissatisfaction. This exploratory study investigated the relationships between experiences of dissociation, body image disturbance and perceptual body image instability in a group of ED individuals, dieters (DT), and non-dieting healthy controls (HC). Sixty participants (ED = 20; DT = 20; HC = 20) completed experimental and self-report measures of dissociation, body disturbance, body checking and body image instability. Perceptual body image instability was measured using the Rubber Hand Illusion. ED individuals experience higher levels of dissociation, body image disturbance and body checking than HC and DT. Perceptual body image instability did not significantly differ between groups (η² = 0.17). Mediation analysis showed body checking cognitions contribute to the relationship between psycholo...