Sasse Lena, Stonawski Valeska, Kratz Oliver, Moll Gunther, Horndasch Stefanie
Department for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
Front Psychol. 2024 Dec 16;15:1483623. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1483623. eCollection 2024.
A diagnostic criterion of Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is body image disturbance. Body exposure therapy is a widely used approach to treat this; however, it is unclear which part of body exposure therapy is relevant for regaining a realistic perspective on the own body. This study aimed to examine the role of the attentional bias (AB), which AN patients exhibit to the most disliked parts of their body. Additionally, emotional responses to the body exposure sessions were examined.
Participants were adolescent girls with a diagnosis of AN, who were randomly assigned to either an intervention (INT) or a treatment-as-usual (TAU) group. Both groups completed a pre and a post session, which included the completion of questionnaires to measure AN-psychopathology. The INT group received four sessions of a computer-based body exposure between the pre and the post session. The viewing pattern was recorded before and after each intervention session via an eyetracking (ET) device, as were emotional response scores on a visual analog scale (VAS; anxiety and disgust). The TAU group did not receive the intervention, but viewing patterns were recorded during the pre and the post session. All participants were asked to list their three least favorite body parts to be able to subsequently assess the AB.
Fifty-eight adolescent girls with AN participated in the study. There were no differences in psychopathology pre to post session, as measured by administered questionnaires. The existence of an AB could be replicated, but there was no significant reduction in the AB pre to post session in the INT group, nor was there an interaction between group and time. Also, no changes in the AB were found within and between sessions in the INT group. Anxiety scores reduced significantly across sessions while disgust scores were significantly higher post session than they were pre session.
While the existence of an AB was demonstrated, the carried-out body exposures were neither sufficient to reduce the AB nor the psychopathology; nevertheless, a significant decrease in anxiety levels showed the usefulness of the exposure sessions. Future research might benefit from more exposure sessions and incorporating AB modification training (ABMT).
神经性厌食症（AN）的一个诊断标准是身体意象障碍。身体暴露疗法是治疗该疾病的一种广泛使用的方法；然而，尚不清楚身体暴露疗法的哪一部分与重新获得对自身身体的现实认知相关。本研究旨在探讨注意偏向（AB）的作用，AN患者对自己身体最不喜欢的部位表现出这种偏向。此外，还研究了对身体暴露环节的情绪反应。
参与者为被诊断患有AN的青春期女孩，她们被随机分配到干预组（INT）或常规治疗组（TAU）。两组都在治疗前和治疗后完成了一次评估，包括填写问卷以测量AN的精神病理学症状。INT组在治疗前和治疗后之间接受了四次基于计算机的身体暴露治疗。每次干预环节前后，通过眼动追踪（ET）设备记录观看模式，同时记录视觉模拟量表（VAS；焦虑和厌恶）上的情绪反应得分。TAU组未接受干预，但在治疗前和治疗后记录了观看模式。所有参与者都被要求列出他们最不喜欢的三个身体部位，以便随后评估注意偏向。
58名患有AN的青春期女孩参与了该研究。根据所发放问卷测量，治疗前后精神病理学症状无差异。注意偏向的存在可以被复制，但INT组治疗前后注意偏向没有显著降低，组间和时间之间也没有交互作用。此外，INT组在各环节内和各环节之间的注意偏向均未发现变化。焦虑得分在各环节中显著降低，而厌恶得分在治疗后显著高于治疗前。
虽然证明了注意偏向的存在，但所进行的身体暴露既不足以减少注意偏向，也不足以减轻精神病理学症状；然而，焦虑水平的显著降低表明了暴露环节的有效性。未来的研究可能会受益于更多的暴露环节以及纳入注意偏向修正训练（ABMT）。
