title: Body checking in the eating disorders: Associations between cognitions and behaviors.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Eating Disorders Service, South West London and St. George's Mental Health NHS Trust, London, England. vicki.mountford@swlstg-tr.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mountford
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haase
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Waller
mesh_terms: 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