A disturbance in body image is generally recognised as central to the eating disorders. Although misperception of body size has been examined extensively in anorexia nervosa, there has been no satisfactory study of a disturbance in body size perception in relation to the eating disorder bulimia nervosa. In addition, concern about body shape, which also constitutes an important aspect of body image disturbance, has received little systematic research attention, probably because there has been no satisfactory measure of this concern. A series of studies was conducted which aimed to overcome the problems and limitations associated with the research on body image. The significance of body image disturbance was investigated among patients with bulimia nervosa; and similar disturbances among women in the community were evaluated. A measure of concern with shape, the <i>Body Shape Questionnaire</i>, was developed and validated. The responses of a large series of patients with bulimia nervosa were obtained, and the relationship between concern with shape and other clinical variables was investigated. A particularly high level of such concern in these patients was found to be associated with markedly disturbed eating behaviour and a high level of general psychological disturbance, most notably depressed mood and self-depreciation. Body size perception in bulimia nervosa was also investigated. Using an image distortion method, the patients were found to overestimate their size significantly more than a control group, and were markedly more dissatisfied with their body size. Similar to concern with shape, disturbances in body size perception were found to be associated with disturbed eating behaviour and a high level of psychological disturbance. Among a sub-sample of patients who received treatment, both aspects of body image disturbance were found to improve; and changes in body image were closely related to improvements in eating habits and attitudes and were accompanied by a concurrent improvement in mood. Some women in the community were found to show disturbances in body image similar to those found in the patients with bulimia nervosa. A series of studies was conducted to identify factors related to these disturbances. A high level of concern with shape was found to emerge at a young age, and was associated with a number of factors which have also been established as significant in patients with eating disorders; notably disturbed eating habits and attitudes and depressed mood. For the subgroup of women in whom concern with shape was found to be labile, changes in these concerns were found to co-vary with mood. As in patients with eating disorders, among women in the community a disturbance in body size perception was found to be closely related to depressed mood and concern with shape; and some evidence was found to support the hypothesis that depressed mood may exacerbate disturbances in body size perception, particularly in the context of a high level of concern with shape. The series of studies has demonstrated that patients with bulimia nervosa show a disturbance in body image; that such disturbance is meaningfully related to other features of the eating disorder; and that similar features also predict such disturbance among women in the community with no syndromal eating disorder. In these studies of body image disturbance in patients with bulimia nervosa, patients with anorexia nervosa and women in the community, a consistent finding was that depressed mood was strongly predictive of such disturbance. The research has implications for the understanding of the psychopathology of eating disorders and possibly for the treatment of body image disturbance as it arises in these conditions.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Westfälische Wilhelms--Universität, 1976. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 186-204).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1971. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Westfälische Wilhelms--Universität, 1976. / Vita. Bibliography: p. 186-204.

Note:

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1980. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-190).

Young children are limited in their usage of comparative adjectives and ordinal numbers, typical ways of describing ordinal relationships. However, research in a number of areas suggests the possibility of a precursor level of ordinal concept. To facilitate the search for precursor ordinal skills, ordinal ability was defined in ordinal measurement terms. Only "greater than - less than," asymmetric judgements were required. Additionally, linguistic demands were reduced by using family-role terms as size designators. Experimental manipulations included variations in scale size and in the complexity level of ordinal conceptualization. Solution strategies based on "good form" and on "pairwise comparison" were precluded by using pictures of randomly placed objects which could not be manipulated by the child. Ninety-six 3-6 year old children pointed to "Daddy," "Mommy," "Big boy/girl," "Little boy/girl," and "Baby" when shown sets of 3 to 5 circles or squares which differed only in size. Tasks were of three types: Identification, mapping labels onto a single set of objects; Coordination, mapping labels onto two identical sets of objects in which corresponding "family members" are the same size; and Transposition, mapping labels onto two separate sets in which corresponding family members are of different sizes. Data were analyzed in an Age (3), by Scale Size (3), by Complexity Level (3), by Shape (2) mixed design ANOVA, and significant main effects were obtained for all variables. Tasks became more difficult with increases in scale size, and in complexity level. Square objects were slightly more difficult than circular, and older children were more proficient than younger ones. Post hoc tests generally supported the obtained main effects. Finer grained analysis using Latent Trait procedures supported the global ANOVA results, and supported the hypothesis that the end points of a scale are easier than the central positions. Response patterns indicated that errors were size-related, and suggested transitional levels of performance. The present study demonstrates that children as young as three can demonstrate a precursor ordinal concept when the task is framed in familiar terms and is placed in a context which is meaningful for them.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 242-255).

Thesis (M.Sc.) -- Memorial University of Newfoundland. 1974. / Typescript. Bibliography : leaves 36-42. Also available online.