Investigating Body Perception Disturbances in Eating Disorders
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating Body Perception Disturbances in relation to severity and prognosis in Eating Disorders
IRAS ID
199702
Contact name
Catherine Preston
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Eating disorders are severe psychiatric disorders with high mortality and relapse rates. Dissatisfaction with the body is a common symptom of eating disorders and is thus a key target for therapy. Many current treatments focus on cognitive components of body dissatisfaction, providing coping strategies for patients to combat negative emotions about their body. However, recent research suggests that body dissatisfaction may be influenced by an inaccurate experience of the body, which is not addressed in most treatments. One factor thought to influence how we perceive and feel about our body is the visual angle that the body is viewed from, for example viewing the body as an observer or in a mirror. However, to date little is known about links between body perception and body satisfaction in clinical patients, and how these components are influenced by the angle from which the body is viewed, therefore, this project will investigate these aspects across two experiments. Experiment one will investigate body perception and body satisfaction in relation to recovery. Patients will be tested at the beginning of their treatment and again at discharge, measuring stability of body perception using a moving rubber hand illusion, and levels of explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) body satisfaction in relation to clinical outcome at a 12-month follow-up. Experiment two will examine judgments of body size when viewing the body from different visual angles. Participants will undergo the body swap illusion in which they view their own body as an observer, whilst making pre and post-illusion judgments of body size and body satisfaction.
REC name
North East - York Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NE/0381
Date of REC Opinion
9 Jan 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion