Body image disturbance is associated with several mental disorders. Previous research on body image has focused mostly on women, largely neglecting body image in men. Moreover, only a small number of studies have conducted gender comparisons of body image over the lifespan and included participants aged 50 years and older. With regard to measurement, body image has often been assessed only in terms of body dissatisfaction, disregarding further aspects such as body appreciation or the importance of appearance. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore different aspects of body image in the general German-speaking population and to compare men and women of various ages. Participants completed an online survey comprising questionnaires about body image. Body dissatisfaction, importance of appearance, the number of hours per day participants would invest and the number of years they would sacrifice to achieve their ideal appearance, and body appreciation were assessed and analyzed with respect to gender and age differences. We hypothesized that body dissatisfaction and importance of appearance would be higher in women than in men, that body dissatisfaction would remain stable across age in women, and that importance of appearance would be lower in older women compared to younger women. Body appreciation was predicted to be higher in men than in women. General and generalized linear models were used to examine the impact of age and gender. In line with our hypotheses, body dissatisfaction was higher in women than in men and was unaffected by age in women, and importance of appearance was higher in women than in men. However, only in men did age predict a lower level of the importance of appearance. Compared to men, women stated that they would invest more hours of their lives to achieve their ideal appearance. For both genders, age was a predictor of the number of years participants would sacrifice to achieve their ideal appearance. Contrary to our assumption, body appreciation improved and was higher in women across all ages than in men. The results seem to suggest that men's and women's body image are dissimilar and appear to vary across different ages.

Cross-sectional evidence shows that loss of control (LOC) eating is a common and psychopathologically relevant experience in preadolescence. This study sought to investigate the natural course of preadolescent LOC eating in relation to psychopathology and body weight trajectory. A community sample of 55 children ages 8-13 years with LOC eating, defined as at least one episode of LOC eating within the past 3 months (LOC+), and 59 matched children without LOC history (LOC-), were assessed with the Eating Disorder Examination adapted for Children and self-report questionnaires every 6 months over a 2-year follow-up. Of the LOC+ children, 54.5% of children remitted from LOC eating, 3.6% showed persistent LOC eating, and 41.8% showed recurring LOC eating over the follow-up period. Of the LOC- children, 19% revealed an onset of LOC episodes, mostly with a low level of stability. Multilevel modeling showed that LOC eating predicted a partial binge eating disorder diagnosis and greater global eating disorder psychopathology, but not depressive symptoms or growth in body fatness. Between-person higher shape concern and weight-related teasing, as well as within-person decreases in shape concern and increases in depression, predicted a greater likelihood of subsequent LOC eating. The results indicate a moderate stability of LOC eating in preadolescent children, with prognostic significance for clinically relevant eating problems and eating disorder psychopathology.

No abstract

No abstract

The goal of the present review is to give an overview of the current findings on various facets of body image disturbance in Binge Eating Disorder such as body dissatisfaction, overconcern with weight and shape, body-related checking and avoidance behavior, misperception of body size, and body-related cognitive bias. In addition, treatments for a disturbed body image in BED and evidence of body image disturbance in youth with binge eating are reviewed. The results show that a disturbed body image in BED is present in the form of overconcern with weight and shape. Furthermore, there are hints that body dissatisfaction, as well as body-related checking and avoidance behavior, are also impaired. Research concerning misperception of body size in BED has been neglected so far, but first findings show that individuals with BED rate their own body shape rather accurately. Furthermore, there are first hints that body-related cognitive biases are present in individuals with BED. Moreover, in children and adolescents, there are first hints that body dissatisfaction, as well as shape and weight concerns, seem to be associated with loss of control and binge eating. Treatments aimed directly at the convertibility of a disturbed body image in BED have revealed encouraging outcomes. In conclusion, body image disturbance seems to occur in BED, and first studies show that it can be treated effectively.

Generally speaking, compared to women, men are less dissatisfied with their own body and consider themselves to be better-looking and less overweight. So far, however, it is unclear whether these divergent body ratings arise from the application of double standards. With the present study, we examined whether men apply different standards to their own body than to other men’s bodies and whether they differ from women in this regard. To this aim, we presented n = 104 women and n = 93 men with pictures of thin, average-weight, overweight, athletic and hypermuscular male and female bodies on a computer screen. To manipulate identification, we showed the bodies of the respective participant’s gender once with the participant’s own face and once with the face of another person. Identity cues, such as faces, might activate different body schemata, which influence body ratings and thus lead to the application of double standards. Participants were instructed to rate their emotional reaction to the bodies according to valence and arousal, and to rate the bodies with respect to attractiveness, body fat, and muscle mass. The application of double standards was determined by calculating the difference between the rating of a body presented with the participant’s face and the rating of the same body presented with another person’s face. Both women and men showed self-deprecating double standards in valence, body attractiveness, body fat and muscle mass for the overweight body. Men also revealed self-deprecating double standards for the thin, average-weight and hypermuscular bodies, but evaluated the athletic body as more attractive and with a higher positive feeling when it was presented with their own face. Women did not show any self-serving double standards and showed fewer self-deprecating double standards than men. The results indicate that men devalue non-ideal bodies and upvalue ideal bodies when they are self-related, whereas women more rate in a fair-minded manner. Thus, in contrast to women, an advantage for men may be that they are able to self-enhance in the case of desirable bodies. This ability to self-enhance regarding desirable features might be beneficial for men’s self-worth and body satisfaction.

Impulsiveness is increasingly gaining attention as a potential risk factor for various mental disorders. Until now, there have been German instruments that allowed for assessing adolescents' self-reported impulsiveness multi-dimensionally. The present study examined the German version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) for adolescents. The instrument was completed by 659 adolescents ages 10 to 20 years; 98 were retested after 6 months. Items showed adequate psychometric properties. An exploratory factor analysis identified three factors that showed slightdifferences from the initial questionnaire proposed by Barratt. The factors showed low to moderate intercorrelations, satisfactory internal consistency (dependent on factor), and were stable over time. Convergent validity was ascertained, and the item pool showed sufficient power to discriminate adolescents with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and those with loss of eating control from healthy adolescents. Findings suggest that the German BIS-11 is appropriate for reliable investigation of impulsiveness in adolescents. Future research should examine sensitivity as a screening tool, as well as sensitivity to change.

The Eating Disorder Examination adapted for children (ChEDE) is the child version of the semi-structured gold standard eating disorder interview for adults. This study was a comprehensive test statistic evaluation of the German ChEDE in a large sample of children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder, loss of control eating, overweight and obesity, as well as non-eating-disordered and chronically ill control probands (n = 352). Excellent inter-rater reliability, adequate internal consistency and satisfactory stability of ChEDE indicators were demonstrated. ChEDE indicators discriminated between diverse forms of eating and weight disturbances and normative eating and were significantly correlated with conceptually related measures. Factorial validity was not convincing; a brief eight-item scale showed the best fit. Item statistics were mostly acceptable. Overall, the ChEDE's German translation reliably and validly assesses psychopathology across the eating and weight disorder spectrum and facilitates international comparison of eating disorder research.