Preconscious processing of body image cues. Impact on body percept and concept.
OBJECTIVE
There is considerable evidence that body image is an elastic construct, which can be influenced by environmental and internal factors. The present study used a visual subliminal processing paradigm, with the aim of determining the impact of preconscious processing of verbal cues upon body image (percept and concept).


METHODS
Forty nonclinical women completed measures of body percept and concept before and after being exposed to very rapid presentations (4 ms) of fatness and thinness cues.


RESULTS
The women with relatively unhealthy eating attitudes were influenced by the fatness stimulus, with a worsening of their body percept and concept. In contrast, the women with healthier eating attitudes showed an improvement in their body percept in response to the thinness stimulus.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings support the centrality of body image schemata in eating psychopathology, although there is a need for replication and extension in other groups.
Waller
Glenn
G
Department of Psychiatry, St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK. g.waller@sghms.ac.uk
Barnes
Juliette
J
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D013360:Subliminal Stimulation