Expand your body when you look at yourself: The role of the posture in a mirror exposure task (original) (raw)
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PLOS ONE, 2021
Mirror exposure (ME) is an effective technique to improve body image. However, evidence on the underlying mechanisms and the optimal verbalization instruction during ME is lacking. Therefore, this experimental study analyzed mechanisms of ME and therapeutic outcomes by comparing positive (PV) and negative (NV) full-body verbalization. N = 73 healthy females were randomized to a PV or an NV condition. PV participants verbalized positively while NV participants verbalized negatively about their whole body. Each participant underwent three standardized ME sessions. Before and after each ME session, positive affect, negative affect and body satisfaction were assessed. Before the first and after the third ME, participants completed questionnaires on cognitive-affective and behavioral aspects of body image, eating pathology and self-esteem. Regarding within-ME changes, the results indicate that positive affect and body satisfaction decreased while negative affect increased in the NV group...
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 2015
Background and Objectives: Though there is some evidence that body exposure increases body satisfaction, it is still unclear why exposure works and how attention should be guided during exposure. This pilot study manipulates the focus of attention during body exposure. Methods: Female participants high in body dissatisfaction were randomly assigned to an exposure intervention that exclusively focused on self-defined attractive (n ¼ 11) or self-defined unattractive (n ¼ 11) body parts. Both interventions consisted of five exposure sessions and homework. Outcome and process of change were studied. Results: Both types of exposure were equally effective and led to significant improvements in body satisfaction, body checking, body concerns, body avoidance and mood at post-test. Improvements for body satisfaction and mood were maintained at follow-up while body shape concerns and body checking still improved between post-test and follow-up. Body avoidance improvements were maintained for the positive exposure while the negative exposure tended to further decrease long-term body avoidance at follow-up.. The 'positive' exposure induced positive feelings during all exposure sessions while the 'negative' exposure initially induced a worsening of feelings but feelings started to improve after some sessions. The most unattractive body part was rated increasingly attractive in both conditions though this increase was significantly larger in the negative compared to the positive exposure condition. Limitations: The sample size was small and non-clinical. Conclusions: Both types of exposure might be effective and clinically useful. Negative exposure is emotionally hard but might be significantly more effective in increasing the perceived attractiveness of loathed body parts and in decreasing avoidance behavior.
Plos One, 2015
Background Weight and shape concerns are widespread in the general population. Mirror exposure has been used to reduce body dissatisfaction but little is known about the mechanisms which underlie this therapeutic technique. The present study examined emotional, cognitive, and psychophysiological responses, in women with high and low levels of body dissatisfaction, exposed to their own bodies in a mirror. Method Forty-two university-attending women (21 high body-dissatisfied (HBD) and 21 low bodydissatisfied (LBD)), were confronted with their own body during four 5-min trials in which participants were instructed to focus their attention on different parts of their body under standardized conditions. Emotional and cognitive measures were taken after each exposure trial. Heart rate (HR) and skin conductance (SC) were recorded continuously. Results HBD women experienced more negative emotions and cognitions following body exposure compared to LBD women but, conversely, showed a reduced physiological reaction in terms of HR and SC. In both groups greater physiological responses were observed looking at the thighs, buttocks, and abdomen. Extent of negative emotions and cognitions were positively associated with HR and/or SC in LBD women but no associations were observed in HBD women. Conclusion The dissociation between self-report and psychophysiological measures in HBD women supports the existence of a passive-behavioral inhibited coping style in HBD women and PLOS ONE |
Investigating the Components of Body Image Disturbance Within Eating Disorders
Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2019
Body image disturbance has been highlighted as a common characteristic within the development and maintenance of clinical eating disorders (EDs), represented by alterations in an individual's bodily experience. However, whilst the perceptual stability of the sense of body ownership has been investigated in ED patients, the stability of the sense of body agency in those with ED is yet to be examined. Therefore, body ownership and body agency were investigated using the moving rubber hand illusion, alongside measures of explicit and implicit body satisfaction. Furthermore, with evidence demonstrating a direct link between perceptual and cognitive-affective components of body image in the healthy population, the relationship between measures of body perception and body satisfaction was investigated. Results showed that both ED and healthy individuals displayed a similar subjective experience of illusory ownership and agency towards the fake hand, following voluntary movement. However, whilst both groups initially overestimated their own hand width prior to the illusion, the ED group displayed a significant reduction in hand size estimation following the illusion, which was not matched to the same degree in healthy individuals. In addition, ED individuals displayed a significantly lower body satisfaction compared with healthy females, on both an explicit and implicit level. Such implicit outcomes were shown to be driven specifically by a weaker association between the self and attractiveness. Finally, a significant relationship was observed between specific perceptual measures and implicit body satisfaction, which highlights the important link between perceptual and cognitive-affective components of one's body image. Together, such findings provide a useful foundation for further research to study the conditions in which these two components relate with regard to body image and its disturbance, particularly in relation to the prognosis and treatment of EDs.
Mirror exposure reduces body dissatisfaction and anxiety in obese adolescents: A pilot study
Appetite, 2008
Many obese adolescents show intense body shape and weight concerns that render them vulnerable to cognitive biases, psychological distress and eating disorders. Current treatments, however, generally do not address negative body image in obese adolescents. The present pilot study tested if body exposure and describing one's body in a neutral way is an effective approach for increasing body satisfaction in obese adolescents. The exposure was shown to be a powerful strategy to decrease anxiety and to increase body satisfaction. Also body weight at post-treatment was a significant predictor of positive feelings. These results indicate that adding body exposure and neutral description of one's body to a weight reduction programme might be an effective way to increase body satisfaction in obese adolescents. #
2013
BRITTAIN L. MAHAFFEY: Evaluating a Cognitive-Behavioral Model of Pathological Mirror Gazing: Implications for the Maintenance of Anxiety and Appearance Dissatisfaction in Body Dysmorphic Disorder (Under the direction of Jonathan S. Abramowitz, Ph.D.) Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a condition in which an individual is excessively preoccupied with an imagined physical defect or a slight physical anomaly. Cognitive behavioral models of BDD posit that excessive mirror gazing plays a key role in the maintenance of BDD. Research suggests that mirror gazing is a safety behavior which elicits heightened self-focused attention and cognitive comparisons to unrealistic beauty ideals. These factors are thought to provoke anxiety and appearance distress. To date, however, these mechanisms have not been experimentally tested and there has been no research examining the relationship between mirror gazing and anxiety. Therefore, the aims of the present study were twofold: one to examine whether mirror gazing can provoke subjective anxiety, and two to experimentally test the mechanisms thought to explain the relationship between mirror gazing and anxiety. Seventy-nine undergraduate females were randomized into four conditions: (1) simple attention to appearance, (2) simple mirror gazing, (3) mirror gazing + self focused attention, and (4) mirror gazing + self-focused attention + comparisons to beauty ideals. Following from Veale's (2004) model, we predicted that conditions 2-4 would result in increased anxiety and appearance distress, with condition 4 evoking the greatest distress and anxiety over the course of the task. A multilevel modeling (MLM) approach was employed for the purposes of data analysis. Results suggest that mirror gazing alone is not sufficient to provoke increased iv appearance dissatisfaction and that targeted negative SFA and beauty related cognitive distortions play a greater role in eliciting dissatisfaction than previously thought. Further, they suggest that these types of tasks do not elicit subjective anxiety in healthy individuals. Additional research is needed to evaluate the relationship between mirror gazing behaviors and subjective anxiety in samples with BDD and to test the efficacy of interventions targeting SFA and beauty related cognitive distortions. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my Committee for their guidance and support throughout this process. I would also like to express my gratitude to my mentor, Dr. Jonathan Abramowitz, for his support and encouragement. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………..……….viii LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………….
Many obese adolescents show intense body shape and weight concerns that render them vulnerable to cognitive biases, psychological distress and eating disorders. Current treatments, however, generally do not address negative body image in obese adolescents. The present pilot study tested if body exposure and describing one's body in a neutral way is an effective approach for increasing body satisfaction in obese adolescents. The exposure was shown to be a powerful strategy to decrease anxiety and to increase body satisfaction. Also body weight at post-treatment was a significant predictor of positive feelings. These results indicate that adding body exposure and neutral description of one's body to a weight reduction programme might be an effective way to increase body satisfaction in obese adolescents. # 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Neuroscience Letters, 2006
Affective states, anxiety in particular, have been shown to negatively influence human postural control efficiency as measured by posturographic means, while exposure to a full-length mirror image of one's body exerts a stabilizing effect. We tested the hypothesis that body image concerns and preoccupations would relate negatively to this stabilising effect. Sixty-six healthy students, who screened negative for psychiatric disorders, completed rating scales for anxiety, depression and body image concerns. Posturography recordings of body sway were taken under three conditions: with eyes closed, looking at a vertical bar and looking at a full-length mirror. The Eyes Open/Mirror Stabilometric Quotient [EOMQ = (sway path with eyes closed/sway path looking at the mirror) × 100], an index of how much postural control is stabilized by mirror feedback in comparison to the visual vertical bar condition, was significantly inversely related to body image concerns and preoccupations, and to trait anxiety. This finding confirms the impact of emotional factors on human postural control, which warrant further studies. If confirmed in clinical populations characterized by high levels of body image disturbances, e.g. eating disorders, it could lead to developments in the assessment and monitoring of these patients.
Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2021
The Mirror Paradigm (MP) is an innovative technique that explores the influences of body representation, affect regulation, and nonverbal mirror behavior in children, adolescents and adults. The critical element of the MP is the use of a full-length mirror in front of which the interviewee is asked to answer questions about how they think and feel about their body, including perception, parental and sociocultural influences and the mind-body connection. Though research on MP is limited and focused mainly on adults, its many advantages are recognized. This narrative review aims to summarize its broad applicability, strengths and weakness and potential uses in both research and clinical settings. The review of the literature was performed through a research on PsycArticles, PsycInfo, Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection, PubMed and Web of Science Scopus databases, plus Google Scholar and ResearchGate, including pertinent and providing quantitative or qualitative data documents....
Mirror gazing in body dysmorphic disorder and healthy controls: Effects of duration of gazing
Behaviour Research and Therapy, 2011
Cognitive-behavioural models of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) suggest that mirrors can act as a trigger for individuals with BDD, resulting in a specific mode of cognitive processing, characterised by an increase in self-focussed attention and associated distress. The aim of the current study was to investigate these factors experimentally by exposing participants with BDD (n ¼ 25) and without BDD (n ¼ 25) to a mirror in a controlled setting. An additional aim was to ascertain the role of duration of mirror gazing in the maintenance of distress and self-consciousness by manipulating the length of gazing (short check vs. long gazing). Findings demonstrated that contrary to what was predicted, not only participants with BDD, but also those without BDD experienced an increase in distress and self-focused attention upon exposure to the mirror. In addition, people without BDD, unlike those with BDD, experienced more distress when looking in the mirror for a long period of time as opposed to a short period of time. This lends some support to the idea that, for people with BDD, gazing in a mirror, regardless of duration, might act as an immediate trigger for an abnormal mode of processing and associated distress, and that this association has developed from past excessive mirror gazing. Further theoretical implications of these findings, as well as subsidiary research questions relating to additional cognitive factors are discussed.