VIDEO CONFRONTATION WITH THE BODY-IMAGE A S AN ELEMENT IN THE TREATMENT OF ANOREXIA-NERVOSA

The study aimed at elaboration of a therapeutic element treating body image distortion of anorexic patients and gathering empirical evidence . The procedure consists of (a) derailed video recording of the patien t's body and (b) confronting the patient with that recording in a seri es of therapy sessions. It was expected that patients would come to a more precise assessment of their body and shape, and would reduce body image related fears. 29 inpatients of a unit specialized in eating di sorders participated in a controlled intervention study. Pre-post meas urements comprised objective and subjective body-related variables, a multidimensional inventory assessing eating disorders in general, and a self-awareness questionnaire. Results of this ''video confrontation' ' showed substantial reductions in the subjective components of body i mage distortion, including bodily fears, whereas perceptive components were neither strongly distorted nor influenced by intervention. Publi c self-awareness was raised dramatically compared to German population norms and remained stable over time. As to the factors of eating diso rder in general, results indicate that the treatment approach on the w hole was effective. It is discussed whether body image (distortion) is primarily a subjective-emotional rather than a perceptive phenomenon.