Body image and eating disorders

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: Not specified

Target Recruitment: 232

Inclusion Criteria

Patients in study 1 and 2: Female, between 18 and 35 years of age, diagnosed with Anorexia.;Controls in study 1 and 2: Female, between 18 and 35 years of age, initially a BMI between 19 and 25, normal range of scores on body dysphoria, no current severe mental health problems. If after weighing and measuring the participant it appears that her BMI is not between 19 and 25, her results wil only be excluded from data analyses if her BMI is below 18 or above 26. This will prevent throwing away data. (Note that in study 2 only female students will participate);Study 3: Female students between 18 and 35 years of age, studying at Utrecht University, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, normal BMI, no current psychiatric problems/disorder. Scores on body dissatisfaction in the highest or lowest quartile of the Body Shape Questionnaire.

Exclusion Criteria

Patients in study 1 and 2: Male, under 18 or above 35 years of age, not diagnosed with AN, physical disabilities or diseases that affect the ability to hear and/or see, and conditions that increase or decrease the sensitivity of the skin, use of medication that may influence task performance due to e.g. drowsiness (study 1 only), auto-mutilation on the body parts of interest (in study 1 and 2; forearm and belly, in study 1: hand and thigh), objection to receiving stimuli that are lightly pressed on the skin, objection to remove clothing from the body parts of interest, comorbid Borderline or 'contact disorder'. If the therapist has reasons to believe that the patient is emotionally (or otherwise) not able to participate in the research, this will lead to exclusion.;Controls study 1 and 2: Male, under 18 or above 35 years of age, BMI below 19 or above 25 (or after weighing and measuring below 18 or above 26), scores on body dysphoria outside the normal range, physical disabilities or diseases that affect the ability to hear and/or see, and conditions that increase or decrease the sensitivity of the skin, use of medication that may influence task performance due to e.g. drowsiness (study 1 only), auto-mutilation on the body parts of interest (study 1 and 2: forearm and belly, study 1: thigh and hand), objection to receiving stimuli that are lightly pressed on the skin, objection to remove clothing from the body parts of interest, current diagnosis of a psychological disorder.;Study 3: Same as controls in study 2, only in study 3 scores on body dysphoria inside the normal range will lead to exclusion.;None of the participants should not be pregnant at the time of testing, because this can significantly influence how body size is experienced.

Study & Design

Study Type: Observational non invasive

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>With the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and Physical Appearance State and Trait<br /><br>Anxiety Scale: State (PASTAS: State) the attitudes about the own body will be<br /><br>measured. The Distance comparison task (DCT) will be used to assess the level<br /><br>of disturbance in the visual mental body image. By administering the Two Point<br /><br>Discrimination (TPD) task it will be investigated whether body schema is<br /><br>disturbed.<br /><br><br /><br>In study 2 and 3 body attitudes will be measured with the BSQ, PASTAS: State<br /><br>and Body Checking Scale. Tactile body image will be assessed with the Tactile<br /><br>Estimation Task (actual retrieved image) and TPT task (receptor<br /><br>density/sensitivity). </p><br>

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>Establish whether there is a difference in tactile scores between the two<br /><br>conditions (i.e. imaginary and mirror condition) administered in the TPD task<br /><br>(study 1, 2 and 3) and TET (study 2 and 3).</p><br>