Dc. Uys et Dr. Wassenaar, THE PERCEPTUAL AND AFFECTIVE COMPONENTS OF BODY-IMAGE DISTURBANCES INANOREXIC AND NORMAL FEMALES, South African Journal of Psychology, 26(4), 1996, pp. 236-242
The literature is inundated with studies reporting the body image expe
riences of anorexia nervosa patients and normal weight people. Such st
udies have not, however, yielded consistent results. The present study
reinvestigated the issue bearing in mind the theoretical and methodol
ogical limitations of previous research. The perceptual and affective
aspects of body image were investigated in 11 white, female anorexic p
atients and 51 white, female psychology undergraduate university stude
nts. A combination of the movable caliper technique and image-marking
procedure was used to assess body sire perception, that is, the percep
tual aspect, and the body Cathexis scale was used to assess body satis
faction, that is, the affective aspect, it was found that anorexic fem
ales overestimate the width of their waist and thighs significantly mo
re than normal females (p < 0.05) and that they have a significantly l
ower body satisfaction (p < 0.001). It was concluded that the DSM IV c
riterion of a disturbance in body image has specific diagnostic releva
nce in anorexia nervosa.