Ascione Mariarca, Carulla-Roig Marta, Miquel-Nabau Helena, Porras-Garcia Bruno, Meschberger-Annweiler Franck-Alexandre, Serrano-Troncoso Eduardo, Ferrer-Garcia Marta, Moreno-Sánchez Manuel, Gutierrez-Maldonado Jose
Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu of Barcelona, Passeig de Sant Joan de Déu, 2, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain.
J Clin Med. 2023 Sep 12;12(18):5932. doi: 10.3390/jcm12185932.
Anorexia nervosa (AN) patients exhibit attentional bias (AB) related to the body, which is the tendency to pay greater attention to weight-related body areas compared to non-weight-related ones. This phenomenon has been linked to elevated levels of body dissatisfaction (BD) and may potentially reduce the effectiveness of body exposure therapy. The purpose of this pilot study is to assess the efficacy of a single session of a new body-related AB modification task (ABMT) that combines virtual reality with eye tracking in patients with AN. The goals of the ABMT are to reduce body-related AB by balancing attention between weight and non-weight-related body areas and to reduce BD levels. Twenty-three adolescent patients with AN were embodied in a virtual avatar and immersed in a virtual environment where they completed the ABMT. Body-related AB measures and BD levels were assessed before and after the training. A paired samples -test showed statistically significant differences between pre-assessment and post-assessment; the complete fixation time on weight-related body parts was reduced and BD levels decreased. The initial evidence of the efficacy of this ABMT has important clinical implications, since AB and BD are considered risk factors for developing and maintaining eating disorder symptomatology among patients with AN.
神经性厌食症（AN）患者表现出与身体相关的注意偏向（AB），即相较于与体重无关的身体部位，他们倾向于更加关注与体重相关的身体部位。这种现象与身体不满（BD）水平升高有关，并且可能会降低身体暴露疗法的效果。这项初步研究的目的是评估一种新的与身体相关的注意偏向修正任务（ABMT）的疗效，该任务将虚拟现实与眼动追踪相结合，用于AN患者。ABMT的目标是通过平衡对体重相关和非体重相关身体部位的注意力来减少与身体相关的AB，并降低BD水平。23名患有AN的青少年患者被呈现为虚拟化身，并沉浸在一个虚拟环境中，在那里他们完成了ABMT。在训练前后评估了与身体相关的AB指标和BD水平。配对样本t检验显示，预评估和后评估之间存在统计学上的显著差异；对与体重相关身体部位的完全注视时间减少，BD水平降低。这种ABMT疗效的初步证据具有重要的临床意义，因为AB和BD被认为是AN患者发展和维持饮食失调症状的风险因素。
