title: "What Are You Thinking When You Look at Me?" A Pilot Study of the Use of Virtual Reality in Body Image.
abstract: Body image disturbance (BID) is implicated in the etiology, maintenance, and relapse of the eating disorders, and remains challenging to treat. New paradigms such as virtual reality (VR) may offer an ecologically viable method to assess and treat BID. This pilot study aimed to determine if a VR environment could elicit increased BID in a nonclinical group of women who were dieting due to body image concerns or nonclinical women who were not dieting. Forty-one nonclinical females participated in the VR paradigm (a London Bus Journey), completing pre and post measures of body image satisfaction, and social evaluative concerns. Results did not support the hypothesis that the virtual London Bus would elicit increased BID. However, dieters reported significantly higher levels of social evaluative concerns and comparison to avatars during the virtual environment compared with nondieters. Participants reported acceptable levels of sense of presence and enjoyment of the VR environment. Possible explanations for the failure of the VR environment to trigger increased BID are discussed, including choice of environment and avatar fidelity. In conclusion, this pilot study suggests that VR might have potential in the treatment of disturbed body image, while highlighting the need for further research into the required levels of representational and behavioral fidelity of virtual environments and avatars.
authors.affiliation: 1 Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry , Psychology, & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom .|2 Eating Disorders Service, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Maudsley Hospital , Denmark Hill, London, United Kingdom .
authors.forename: Victoria A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Mountford
authors.affiliation: 1 Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry , Psychology, & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom .|2 Eating Disorders Service, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Maudsley Hospital , Denmark Hill, London, United Kingdom .
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tchanturia
authors.affiliation: 1 Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry , Psychology, & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom .|3 Virtual Reality Lab, NIHR/Wellcome Trust, King's Clinical Research Facilities, King's Hospital London , London, United Kingdom .
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valmaggia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology; D004777:Environment; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012945:Social Values; D013850:Thinking; D063367:Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult