Body-image marking. Validity of body-width estimates as operational measures of body image.

The relation of image-marking estimates of body width (IM) to actual widths, to other indices of body-size perception, and to measures of body satisfaction were examined using data obtained in a nonclinical sample of 200 women. The results of regression and correlational analyses were as follows: (a) actual widths accounted for only a small proportion of the variance in IM estimates, (b) the variance in IM estimates remaining after actual width was accounted for was not meaningfully related to other body-image indices, and (c) actual widths were more highly correlated with other body-image indices than were differences between estimated and actual widths (IM estimate-actual width). The current results suggest that most of the variance in IM estimates is error variance. Possible methodological confounds, which may bias women's estimates of body widths in the direction of overestimation, are discussed.

To weigh or not to weigh? Frequency of weighing and rate of weight gain in patients with anorexia nervosa.

The present study compares the rate of weight gain during refeeding in 15 anorectic patients who were weighed daily with that of 15 who were weighed three times per week. There was no significant difference between the two groups.

The Body Esteem Scale: construct validity of the female subscales.

The female subscales of the Body Esteem Scale (BES) have demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity in two previous studies. However, relationships between BES dimensions, weight, and other body-image measures have not been adequately examined. In this study, 200 women with a mean age of 27.6 years completed the BES, the Eating Disorder Inventory, the Self-Consciousness Scale, the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, a figure rating task, a phototechnical body-size estimation procedure, and items concerning weight satisfaction and attractiveness. BES Weight Concern was most closely related to weight variables and other body image measures where BES Sexual Attractiveness and Physical Condition were more strongly associated with less specific self-perceptions and attitudes. Results support the construct validity of the BES female subscales and their utility for research in populations at increased risk for body-image or eating-disorder disturbances.

The prediction of relapse in bulimia nervosa.

Thirty-nine women successfully treated for bulimia nervosa were followed up six months after the conclusion of treatment and classified as maintaining recovery or partially or completely relapsed. Clinical and psychometric variables including body image disturbance and dissatisfaction were entered into regression equations to identify predictors of relapse. Dissatisfaction with body image at the end of treatment was the most potent predictor of relapse. The finding is interpreted as underscoring the importance of addressing issues of body image in therapy if treatment gains are to be maintained.

A modified video camera for measuring body image distortion: technical description and reliability.

Previously employed techniques for the measurement of body image are briefly described, with a short consideration of methodological or procedural limitations associated with each technique. A new procedure is described which employs a simple modification to a standard video camera to produce an image which appears from 20% thinner to 40% fatter than the actual person, without other distortion of the image. Reliability and preliminary validity data for the new procedure are presented.

A comparative psychometric study of anorexia nervosa and obsessive neurosis.

Similarities between anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder have been described by a number of authors but few empirical investigations have been reported. In the current study, 15 female anorexics were compared with 14 age-matched female obsessives on a variety of psychometric tests, psychiatrist's ratings and self-rating scales. Obsessives and anorexics obtained similarly high obsessive symptom and trait scores on the Leyton Obsessional Inventory LOI). Both groups were rated by the psychiatrist as similarly obsessive, and there were no significant group differences in self-ratings of obsessive symptoms. Both groups were characterized by high levels of neuroticism and anxiety and low levels of extraversion. In the anorexic group the 6 abstainers had higher resistance scores on the LOI and higher extraversion scores on th MPI than the 9 bulimics. Findings are discussed with reference to the "sorcerer's apprentice" syndrome which appears to characterize both the obsessive and the anorexic.