Body size overestimation in anorexia nervosa: Contributions of cognitive, affective, tactile and visual information

Body image disturbance (BID) in anorexia nervosa (AN) is poorly understood and the individual contribution of perceptual, cognitive, and affective components remains unclear. This study compared females with AN and matched healthy controls (HC) on a perceptual size estimation task. Participants (AN n=19 M[SD] age=16.97 [2.24], HC n=19, age=15.77[2.17]) were blindfolded and estimated the size of neutral objects, safe foods, unsafe foods, and parts of their bodies (hips, waist, knees, ankle) over three blocks using: 1) no sensory information (baseline), 2) tactile information, and 3) added visual information. There were no significant differences between AN and HC on neutral and safe or unsafe food objects. Participants with AN were significantly more likely to overestimate their body size across blocks compared to HC. Both groups made fewer errors on unsafe foods and body parts when using tactile or visual information compared to baseline. Exploratory analyses revealed significant correlations between body size overestimation and drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction in the AN group, with body dissatisfaction being the most robust. Results suggest that both deficits in tactile and visual perception and affective factors play a role in BID for young women with AN.

Automated summary

This study compared females with AN and matched healthy controls on a perceptual size estimation task, finding that individuals with AN were more likely to overestimate their body size. Body dissatisfaction was found to have a significant impact on this overestimation.