Does habitual body avoidance and checking behavior influence the decrease of negative emotions during body exposure in eating disorders?

The aim of the present study was to assess whether habitual body avoidance and body-checking behavior influences the decrease of negative emotions during body exposure. Twenty-one eating-disordered female participants completed the Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire and the Body Checking Questionnaire. On another day, a 40-min body exposure session was conducted under standardized conditions.

Look at yourself: can body image therapy affect the cognitive and emotional response to seeing oneself in the mirror in eating disorders?

The study examined whether the extent of negative body-related thoughts and emotions evoked by looking in a mirror can be changed by cognitive-behavioural body image therapy (BIT) and whether any remaining cognitive and affective responses dropped faster after the treatment. Females with eating disorders (n = 17) looked in a mirror for 40 minutes under standardised conditions before and after BIT. A control group (CG) (n = 24) was also exposed to their own bodies twice.

What happens in the course of body exposure? Emotional, cognitive, and physiological reactions to mirror confrontation in eating disorders.

Objective: Though body exposure seems to enhance outcome in cognitive-behavioural therapy of anorexia and bulimia nervosa, the underlying mechanisms are still unknown.

Methods: Participants with eating disorders (ED; n = 21) and normal controls (NC; n = 28) were exposed to their own bodies in front of a mirror for 40 minutes under standardized conditions. Emotions, cognitions, and saliva cortisol were assessed every 10 minutes during body exposure.