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Body size overestimation and its association with body mass index, body dissatisfaction, and drive for thinness in anorexia nervosa

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Body size overestimation is a fundamental feature in anorexia nervosa (AN). There have been inconclusive findings about the extent to which this feature distinguishes psychopathology and some authors have argued that overestimation may be a function of lower body mass index (BMI).

Methods

We examine body size estimation accuracy and body dissatisfaction in 74 females with AN and 11 age-matched female controls using two well-established psychophysical procedures.

Results

Participants with AN overestimated their body size more and had greater body dissatisfaction than controls. Size accuracy was found to be independent of BMI and correlated with body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness in participants with AN.

Conclusions

We conclude that overestimation of body size in AN is related to the psychopathology associated with the disorder and is not due to any perceptual tendency for people with lower BMI to overestimate their body size. We discuss the implications of these findings for treatment of AN.

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Acknowledgments

The analysis and interpretation of the findings of this research were supported in part by NIH/NCATS Colorado CTSI Grant Number UL TR000154 to Jane Gralla. The body image software used in this study is available from Rick Gardner, e-mail: rick.gardner@ucdenver.edu.

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this article.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Eating Disorder Program, Children’s Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, 80045, USA

    Jennifer Hagman & Guido K. W. Frank

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, 80217-3364, USA

    Rick M. Gardner & Dana L. Brown

  3. Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, 80045, USA

    Jane Gralla

  4. Boulder Medical Center/Obstetrics, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA

    Jennifer M. Fier

Authors
  1. Jennifer Hagman
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  2. Rick M. Gardner
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  3. Dana L. Brown
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  4. Jane Gralla
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  5. Jennifer M. Fier
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  6. Guido K. W. Frank
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rick M. Gardner.

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Hagman, J., Gardner, R.M., Brown, D.L. et al. Body size overestimation and its association with body mass index, body dissatisfaction, and drive for thinness in anorexia nervosa. Eat Weight Disord 20, 449–455 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-015-0193-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-015-0193-0

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