NCT03758326

A New Measure of Body Image in Eating Disorders

Measurement of Body Image in Eating Disorders

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 135 (actual)
• Sponsor: Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Inc. · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 13 Years – 64 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study aims to compare a new electronic instrument called (here referred to as the 'Body App') with traditional paper and pencil rating scales for assessing how individuals with eating disorders evaluate their body image.

Detailed description

Self-perceived weight or shape disturbance is a core symptom of eating disorders, with heavy therapeutic and prognostic relevance. Developing a reliable and unbiased method to assess body image disturbance is imperative, as feature characteristics of eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, include the overestimation of body size and shape. Among the most essential features of the disorder, this inability to correctly judge one's own body image has been frequently linked to the maintenance of eating disorders. Moreover, persistent perceptual disturbance for one's visual appearance is one of the strong predictors of relapse in AN and bulimia nervosa. Body image disturbance can be conceptualized as having two main components: perceptual, and attitudinal/affective. These might be considered two distinct constructs, best measured independently. However, clinicians currently rely upon self-report questionnaires that evaluate aggregates of symptoms, perceptual experiences, behaviors, and thoughts linked to the disorder. Some scales selectively evaluate body image characteristics such as body dissatisfaction and body distortion. However, it is unclear to what degree each of these measures quantifies the specific components of perceptual experiences vs. attitudinal/affective aspects. This study aims to evaluate whether a new electronic instrument, here referred to as the 'Body App', which separates estimations of body shape and size from the attitudinal/affective component might result in closer approximations of the perceptual component of weight or shape disturbance, and facilitate the assessment of body image disturbance in eating disorders.

Conditions

• Eating Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Body App	Participants will indicate areas of concern on a virtual manikin using an electronic online interface. Body measurements will also be collected.

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-03-16
• Primary completion: 2022-08-30
• Completion: 2024-11-30
• First posted: 2018-11-29
• Last updated: 2023-10-05

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States