Perception and evaluation of women’s bodies in adolescents and adults with anorexia nervosa

Abstract

Body image disturbance in anorexia nervosa (AN) has been widely studied with regard to the patient's own body, but little is known about perception of or attitude towards other women's bodies in AN. The aim of the present study was to investigate how 20 girls aged 12-18 years and 19 adult women suffering from AN compared to 37 healthy adolescent girls and women estimate weight and attractiveness of women's bodies belonging to different BMI categories (BMI 13.8-61.3 kg/m²). Weight and attractiveness ratings of the participant's own body and information on physical comparisons were obtained, and effects on others' weight and attractiveness ratings investigated. Differential evaluation processes were found: AN patients estimated other women's weight higher than control participants. Patients showed a bias towards assessing extremely underweight women as more attractive and normal weight and overweight women as less attractive than healthy girls and women. These effects were more pronounced in adult than in adolescent AN patients. The tendency to engage in physical comparison with others significantly correlated with weight as well as attractiveness ratings in patients. A logistic regression model encompassing own attractiveness ratings, attractiveness bias towards strongly underweight others' bodies and the interaction of this bias with age as predictors differentiated best between AN patients and controls. Our results indicate that females suffering from AN and healthy girls and women perceive other women's bodies differently. Assessment of others' weight and attractiveness may contribute to the maintenance of dysfunctional physical comparison processes.

Appearance evaluation of others' faces and bodies in anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder

“…As expected, the AN group rated others' bodies to be more overweight than the HC group, and the degree of overweight rating was associated with severity of eating disorder symptoms. This is consistent with previous studies that suggest individuals with AN tend to assess underweight women as being of normal weight (and more attractive) than do HCs . Previous studies have also found abnormal weight‐overestimation in AN .…”

“…Research in this aspect of perceptual distortion, as well as self‐referential thought, is limited. In one study, when examining photographs of others' bodies, participants with AN rated underweight bodies to be more attractive and of more normal weight than did healthy comparison participants (HC) . In another, participants with AN and HCs demonstrated a negative correlation between own body mass index (BMI) and over‐estimation of another's BMI, and lower BMIs were associated with optimal attractiveness, suggesting a dimensional association between visual perception/evaluation and one's own weight.…”

“…In one study, when examining photographs of others' bodies, participants with AN rated underweight bodies to be more attractive and of more normal weight than did healthy comparison participants (HC). 13 In another, participants with AN and HCs demonstrated a negative correlation between own body mass index (BMI) and over-estimation of another's BMI, and lower BMIs were associated with optimal attractiveness, 14 suggesting a dimensional association between visual perception/evaluation and one's own weight. Similarly, individuals with BDD have been shown to scrutinize details of others' appearance in addition to their own, 5 and an eye-tracking study showed that participants with BDD had more fixations and longer dwell time on the least attractive areas of others' faces, particularly areas corresponding to areas of primary concern on their own face.…”

Double standards in body evaluation? How identifying with a body stimulus influences ratings in women with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

“…With regard to the cognitive‐affective component, previous studies employing various questionnaires found that women with ED report a higher dissatisfaction with their own body than do women without ED (Cash & Deagle, ; Hrabosky et al, ; Vossbeck‐Elsebusch et al, ). In line with these self‐ratings, studies in which participants were asked to evaluate characteristics of their own body found that women with ED rate their own body more critically than do nonclinical controls, that is, as less attractive or with more body fat (Bauer et al, ; Horndasch et al, ; Von Wietersheim et al, ). To establish whether such a negative view of one's own body is “justified,” Jansen, Smeets, Martijn, and Nederkoorn () asked two community panels to rate the attractiveness of bodies of women with similar body mass indexes (BMI), but with higher or lower levels of ED symptoms, and compared their ratings with the self‐ratings provided by these women.…”

Unravelling basic mechanisms in addiction and neuropsychiatric disorders

“…While there exist several studies on self-esteem in anorexia nervosa (AN), so far little was known about AN patient's estimation of other's weight and attractiveness. Horndasch et al [5] discovered a different perception of other women's bodies belonging to different BMI categories in adolescent AN patients and healthy controls. The observed significant tendency of patient's engagement in physical comparison with others and weight as Since functional imaging studies have shown a significant association between particularly the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), and the pathophysiology of drug addiction, Seifert et al [1] investigated potential volume difference of the NAcc in heroin-addicted patients compared to healthy controls and additionally correlated subcortical volumes with clinical measurements of negative effects in addiction.…”