Embodiment of underweight and normal-weight avatars affects bodily self-representations in anorexia nervosa.

ABSTRACT: Body image distortion (BID) is a crucial aspect of anorexia nervosa (AN), leading to body overestimation, dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem. BID significantly influences the onset, maintenance, and relapse of the pathology. We assessed whether a Full Body Illusion (FBI) using under and normal-weight avatars' bodies affects perceptual body image and body schema estimations in both individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) and healthy controls (HC). After each embodiment procedure, we asked participants to estimate the width of their hips (Perceptual Body Image Task) and the minimum aperture width of a virtual door necessary to pass through it (Body Schema Task). Additionally, we asked participants to rate the avatars in terms of self-similarity, attractiveness, and implicit disgust (i.e., p

SUBMITTER: Provenzano L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11233954 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature