Meneguzzo Paolo, Behrens Simone C, Pavan Chiara, Toffanin Tommaso, Quiros-Ramirez M Alejandra, Black Michael J, Giel Katrin E, Tenconi Elena, Favaro Angela
Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Front Psychiatry. 2024 May 30;15:1407474. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1407474. eCollection 2024.
Negative body image and adverse body self-evaluation represent key psychological constructs within the realm of weight bias (WB), potentially intertwined with the negative self-evaluation characteristic of depressive symptomatology. Although WB encapsulates an implicit form of self-critical assessment, its exploration among people with mood disorders (MD) has been under-investigated. Our primary goal is to comprehensively assess both explicit and implicit WB, seeking to reveal specific dimensions that could interconnect with the symptoms of MDs.
A cohort comprising 25 MD patients and 35 demographically matched healthy peers (with 83% female representation) participated in a series of tasks designed to evaluate the congruence between various computer-generated body representations and a spectrum of descriptive adjectives. Our analysis delved into multiple facets of body image evaluation, scrutinizing the associations between different body sizes and emotionally charged adjectives (e.g., active, apple-shaped, attractive).
No discernible differences emerged concerning body dissatisfaction or the correspondence of different body sizes with varying adjectives. Interestingly, MD patients exhibited a markedly higher tendency to overestimate their body weight (p = 0.011). Explicit WB did not show significant variance between the two groups, but MD participants demonstrated a notable implicit WB within a specific weight rating task for BMI between 18.5 and 25 kg/m (p = 0.012).
Despite the striking similarities in the assessment of participants' body weight, our investigation revealed an implicit WB among individuals grappling with MD. This bias potentially assumes a role in fostering self-directed negative evaluations, shedding light on a previously unexplored facet of the interplay between WB and mood disorders.
负面身体意象和不良身体自我评估是体重偏见（WB）领域的关键心理结构，可能与抑郁症状的负面自我评估特征相互交织。尽管WB包含一种隐含的自我批评评估形式，但在情绪障碍（MD）患者中对其进行的探索一直不足。我们的主要目标是全面评估显性和隐性WB，试图揭示可能与MD症状相互关联的具体维度。
一个由25名MD患者和35名人口统计学匹配的健康同龄人（女性占83%）组成的队列参与了一系列旨在评估各种计算机生成的身体表征与一系列描述性形容词之间一致性的任务。我们的分析深入探讨了身体意象评估的多个方面，仔细研究了不同身体尺寸与带有情感色彩的形容词（如活跃的、苹果型身材的、有吸引力的）之间的关联。
在身体不满意或不同身体尺寸与不同形容词的对应关系方面未发现明显差异。有趣的是，MD患者表现出明显更高的高估自己体重的倾向（p = 0.011）。两组之间显性WB没有显著差异，但MD参与者在BMI为18.5至25 kg/m的特定体重评级任务中表现出显著的隐性WB（p = 0.012）。
尽管参与者在体重评估方面有显著相似之处，但我们的调查揭示了MD患者中存在隐性WB。这种偏见可能在促进自我导向的负面评价中发挥作用，为WB与情绪障碍之间相互作用的一个先前未被探索的方面提供了线索。
