title: Two sides of the same coin? A new instrument to assess body checking and avoidance behaviors in eating disorders.
abstract: Body checking (BC) and avoidance behaviors (BA) are the dominant behavioral features of body image disturbances (BID) that characterize most individuals with eating disorders (EDs). Whereas BC can be reliably assessed, a valid assessment tool for BA is lacking, preventing an adequate assessment of BID differences across different EDs (anorexia nervosa, AN; bulimia nervosa, BN; binge eating disorder, BED). A total of 310 women with EDs and 112 nonclinical controls completed measures of BC-, BA- and ED-related symptoms. BA did not differentiate between EDs, whereas BC did: it was highest in AN and BN, and lowest in BED. Multivariate analyses also discriminated AN from BN based on BC. Given that results are of preliminary nature, evidence is promising that EDs can be discriminated from healthy controls and that differential BID profiles for the behavioral component among ED subgroups exist. However, replication of the factor structure remains open within ED subsamples.
authors.affiliation: LWL University Hospital of the Ruhr-University Bochum for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hamm, Germany. Electronic address: tanja.legenbauer@rub.de.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Legenbauer
authors.affiliation: LWL University Hospital of the Ruhr-University Bochum for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hamm, Germany.
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Psychosomatic Hospital St. Franziska-Stift, Bad Kreuznach, Germany.
authors.forename: Ariane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blaschke
authors.affiliation: LWL University Hospital of the Ruhr-University Bochum for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hamm, Germany.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schwenzfeier
authors.affiliation: Centre of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blechert
authors.affiliation: Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Eating Disorder Outpatient Unit, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schnicker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D001835:Body Weight; D001837:Body Weights and Measures / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans
keywords: Avoidance; BCQ; BIAQ; Body image disturbance; Checking; Eating disorders