BODY-SIZE ESTIMATION IN EATING DISORDER PATIENTS - TESTING THE VIDEO DISTORTION METHOD ON A LIFE-SIZE SCREEN

The video distortion method on a life-size screen is a new method for studying eating disordered patients' estimations of their own body wid th. Testing this method in female patients (53 with anorexia nervosa, 38 with bulimia nervosa) and 36 normal females, yielded high to very h igh reliability scores (consistency and test-retest stability). A care ful analysis of the 'just noticeable difference' showed that a 5% devi ation from the undistorted image should be considered as within the ra nge of accuracy. Taking this into account, anorectic patients appear t o score below, above, as well as within the normal range. Bulimia nerv osa patients are either accurate in their body estimations or overesti mate their body width. All control Ss are correct in their estimations . With this method no significant differences were found between the a norectic patients and the Controls. Bulimics differ significantly from anorectics and controls on their optative responses (i.e. what they w anted to look like) and their affective responses (i.e. what they felt they looked like).