title: Perception and evaluation of women's bodies in adolescents and adults with anorexia nervosa.
abstract: Body image disturbance in anorexia nervosa (AN) has been widely studied with regard to the patient's own body, but little is known about perception of or attitude towards other women's bodies in AN. The aim of the present study was to investigate how 20 girls aged 12-18 years and 19 adult women suffering from AN compared to 37 healthy adolescent girls and women estimate weight and attractiveness of women's bodies belonging to different BMI categories (BMI 13.8-61.3 kg/m²). Weight and attractiveness ratings of the participant's own body and information on physical comparisons were obtained, and effects on others' weight and attractiveness ratings investigated. Differential evaluation processes were found: AN patients estimated other women's weight higher than control participants. Patients showed a bias towards assessing extremely underweight women as more attractive and normal weight and overweight women as less attractive than healthy girls and women. These effects were more pronounced in adult than in adolescent AN patients. The tendency to engage in physical comparison with others significantly correlated with weight as well as attractiveness ratings in patients. A logistic regression model encompassing own attractiveness ratings, attractiveness bias towards strongly underweight others' bodies and the interaction of this bias with age as predictors differentiated best between AN patients and controls. Our results indicate that females suffering from AN and healthy girls and women perceive other women's bodies differently. Assessment of others' weight and attractiveness may contribute to the maintenance of dysfunctional physical comparison processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6/10, 91054, Erlangen, Germany. stefanie.horndasch@uk-erlangen.de.|Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany. stefanie.horndasch@uk-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Horndasch
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6/10, 91054, Erlangen, Germany. hartmut.heinrich@uk-erlangen.de.|Heckscher Klinikum, Munich, Germany. hartmut.heinrich@uk-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: Hartmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Heinrich
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6/10, 91054, Erlangen, Germany. oliver.kratz@uk-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kratz
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6/10, 91054, Erlangen, Germany. sammy1920@hotmail.de.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mai
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany. holmer.graap@uk-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: Holmer
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Graap
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6/10, 91054, Erlangen, Germany. gunther.moll@uk-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: Gunther H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Moll
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000150:complications*; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescence; Anorexia nervosa; Body image; Regression analysis; Social comparison