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Effects of perceptual body image distortion and early weight gain on long-term outcome of adolescent anorexia nervosa

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Abstract

Anorexia nervosa (AN), a severe mental disorder with an onset during adolescence, has been found to be difficult to treat. Identifying variables that predict long-term outcome may help to develop better treatment strategies. Since body image distortion and weight gain are central elements of diagnosis and treatment of AN, the current study investigated perceptual body image distortion, defined as the accuracy of evaluating one’s own perceived body size in relation to the actual body size, as well as total and early weight gain during inpatient treatment as predictors for long-term outcome in a sample of 76 female adolescent AN patients. Long-term outcome was defined by physical, psychological and psychosocial adjustment using the Morgan–Russell outcome assessment schedule as well as by the mere physical outcome consisting of menses and/or BMI approximately 3 years after treatment. Perceptual body image distortion and early weight gain predicted long-term outcome (explained variance 13.3 %), but not the physical outcome alone. This study provides first evidence for an association of perceptual body image distortion with long-term outcome of adolescent anorexia nervosa and underlines the importance of sufficient early weight gain.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 940), the Swiss Anorexia Nervosa Foundation and the Roland-Ernst Stiftung für Gesundheitswesen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Eating Disorder Services and Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, University Hospital C. G. Carus, Dresden, Germany

    Ilka Boehm, Beatrice Finke, Friederike I. Tam, Michael Scholz, Krassimir Gantchev, Veit Roessner & Stefan Ehrlich

  2. Celenius Klinik Carolabad, Medical Rehabilitation Center for Psychotherapy, Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, Chemnitz, Germany

    Eike Fittig

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  1. Ilka Boehm
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  2. Beatrice Finke
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  3. Friederike I. Tam
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  4. Eike Fittig
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  5. Michael Scholz
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  6. Krassimir Gantchev
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  7. Veit Roessner
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  8. Stefan Ehrlich
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stefan Ehrlich.

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Financial disclosures

In the last 2 years, Dr. Roessner has received lecture fees from Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, Medice and Novartis, and was a member of advisory boards of Eli Lilly and Novartis.

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All other authors reported no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the local Institutional Review Board.

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All participants (and if underage their guardians) gave written informed consent.

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Boehm, I., Finke, B., Tam, F.I. et al. Effects of perceptual body image distortion and early weight gain on long-term outcome of adolescent anorexia nervosa. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 25, 1319–1326 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-016-0854-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-016-0854-1

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