Body checking in the eating disorders: Associations between cognitions and behaviors.
OBJECTIVE
Body checking behaviors appear to be a manifestation of the cognitive distortions that are central to the maintenance of the eating disorders. However, there is little understanding of the cognitions that drive these behaviors. This study validates a novel measure of such cognitions (Body Checking Cognitions Scale [BCCS]) and examines the association between body checking cognitions, body checking behaviors, and general eating pathology.


METHODS
Eighty-four eating-disordered women and 205 non-eating-disordered women each completed measures of body checking behaviors, body checking cognitions and eating pathology. A further 130 nonclinical women completed the measures to provide an independent cross-validation sample for the BCCS.


RESULTS
The BCCS was reliable and valid, and cross-validation with an independent sample confirmed the four-factor structure. Eating-disordered women were significantly more likely to experience body checking cognitions than healthy women. Those cognitions were associated with a significant proportion of variance in eating pathology, over and above the variance explained by checking behaviors.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides evidence for a range of beliefs underlying body checking behavior in eating-disordered women, suggesting that interventions addressing those beliefs might be pertinent in some cases.
Mountford
Victoria
V
Eating Disorders Service, South West London and St. George's Mental Health NHS Trust, London, England. vicki.mountford@swlstg-tr.nhs.uk
Haase
Anne
A
Waller
Glenn
G
D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007600:Judgment; D011594:Psychometrics; D012649:Self Concept; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012928:Social Desirability; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires