title: Body image in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder after childhood sexual abuse and co-occurring eating disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Body image is a multidimensional construct with cognitive-affective, behavioral and perceptive components. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse report a disturbance of the cognitive-affective component of their body image but not of the perceptive component. It has not yet been examined whether and how the behavioral component is affected. Also, it is still unknown whether the disturbances might be due to the influence of co-occurring eating disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cognitive-affective and behavioral components of the body image of 84 female participants with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childhood sexual abuse (31 with a co-occurring eating disorder) and 53 healthy participants were assessed via the Dresden Body Image Inventory (Dresdner Körperbildfragebogen-35, DKB-35) and the Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire (BIAQ).
  
  
  RESULTS
  PTSD patients reported significantly higher negative scores on all DKB-35 subscales (p < 0.001) and the BIAQ (p = 0.002; p < 0.001). Results remained consistent after accounting for the influence of co-occurring eating disorders (p = 0.021; p = 0.001; p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results show for the first time that the behavioral component of the body image is impaired in female patients with PTSD in addition to the cognitive-affective component. This is not solely due to a comorbid eating disorder. The effect of established treatments on the body image of PTSD patients should be evaluated and new treatment modules should be developed and tested, if necessary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Biological Psychology, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany. dyer@uni-mannheim.de
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dyer
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Borgmann
authors.forename: Nikolaus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kleindienst
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Feldmann
authors.forename: Silja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vocks
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bohus
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology; D001828:Body Image; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010555:Personality Inventory; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires