Startle as an objective measure of distress related to teasing and body image.
OBJECTIVE
The startle reflex was used to assess negative emotion in response to body image cues in persons with and without body-related teasing histories.


METHODS
Fifty-three female college students viewed photos of themselves both unaltered and morphed to look heavier and thinner. Participants with a teasing history were compared to participants without a teasing history on self-report measures and the affect modulated startle paradigm when viewing the photos.


RESULTS
All participants, regardless of teasing history, self-reported that the photo morphed to look heaviest was more unpleasant than the neutral photo. When assessed by the affect modulated startle paradigm, a significant teasing history by photo interaction was found between the neutral and morphed to look heaviest photos and the neutral and morphed to look smallest photo. Those with a teasing history had greater startle response to the morphed images in comparison to the neutral images than did those without a teasing history.


CONCLUSIONS
College-aged women with weight-related teasing histories may have negative emotional reactions to personally relevant body image cues, as measured by the startle reflex, even when they subjectively report no distress. Objective measures, such as the startle reflex should be considered when assessing emotional reactions to body image cues.
Spresser
Carrie D
CD
Department of Psychology, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 4825 Troost Ave., Kansas City, MO 64110, USA. cds985@umkc.edu
Keune
Kristen M
KM
Filion
Diane L
DL
Lundgren
Jennifer D
JD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D058445:Bullying; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013216:Reflex, Startle; D055815:Young Adult