Page 86 - JCBP-2-4

Journal of Clinical and
Basic Psychosomatics Adverse life events and body image

Table 2. Differences in perfectionism, impulsivity, and BID Patients in the ED group who showed pre-13 ALEs
with respect to ALE categories (P = 0.038) demonstrated a heightened propensity for non-
visual BID. No significant differences were observed in the
ED RMDD CG P*
Mean (SD) Mean (SD) Mean (SD) RMDD or control group with regard to this ALE category.
Interpersonal ALEs With regard to the category of pre-13 interpersonal
EDI-P 7.90 (4.02) 5.33 (4.92) 4.30 (4.31) 0.028 ALEs, the analysis yielded significant differences in the
EDI-I 5.61 (6.00) 1.33 (1.21) 2.53 (5.57) 0.034 levels of perfectionism, which were higher (P = 0.017)
among patients in the ED group who had experienced
Visual BID 0.80 (1.80) −0.83 (1.21) −0.70 (0.95) 0.038 such an event than among those who had not. Obsessive
Non-visual BID 0.70 (2.11) −0.75 (1.22) 0.00 (1.35) 0.158
thoughts about weight loss and impulsivity exhibited
CDRS BD 3.29 (2.12) 1.41 (1.02) 0.69 (0.75) 0.002 tendencies that approached statistical significance (EDI-
EDI-BD 18.90 (10.81) 6 (6.35) 4.69 (4.92) 0.002 Drive for thinness, P = 0.052; EDI-Impulsivity, P = 0.055).
BMI 21.58 (6.79) 22.6 (4.19) 23.82 (4.52) 0.385 A linear regression analysis was conducted to investigate
ALEs (both interpersonal and non-interpersonal) before the the relationship between pre-13 interpersonal ALEs and
age of 13 years BID. To gain further insight into the potential predictors
EDI-P 7.4 (4.11) 7 (4.32) 3.16 (3.33) 0.489 of pre-13 ALEs, several alternative models were examined.
EDI-I 5.05 (5.94) 2.62 (3.02) 2.33 (5.71) 0.082 The initial model was constructed using BMI. The second
Visual BID 0.82 (1.60) −0.75 (1.06) −0.5 (0.83) 0.004 model incorporated pre-13 interpersonal ALEs. The
Non-visual BID 0.85 (1.85) −0.68 (1.48) −0.66 (0.51) 0.015 third model included pre-13 interpersonal ALEs, along
CDRS BD 3.20 (2.19) 1.62 (2.08) 0.66 (0.81) 0.013 with BMI and the number of hospitalizations. The results
indicated that experiencing interpersonal ALEs before the
EDI-BD 17.85 (10.95) 10.87 (10.42) 6.66 (5.24) 0.033 age of 13 years is predictive of a visual BID in adulthood.
BMI 25.24 (8.91) 29.08 (9.03) 22.7 (1.33) 0.546 Moreover, this model was effective in predicting non-
Interpersonal ALEs before the age of 13 years visual BID. The influence of pre-13 interpersonal ALEs on
EDI-P 8.34 (3.94) 6 (4.66) 3.00 (4.24) 0.082 other variables was examined, and this traumatic factor
EDI-I 6.15 (6.37) 1.20 (1.30) 3.50 (7.00) 0.218 was found to be a predictor of impulsivity (P = 0.001) and
Visual BID 1.01 (1.83) −1.00 (1.27) −0.5 (1.00) 0.021 perfectionism (P = 0.021).
Non-visual BID 0.98 (2.09) −0.90 (1.88) −0.75 (0.50) 0.070 4. Discussion
CDS BD 3.55 (2.20) 1.55 (1.11) 1.00 (0.81) 0.022
EDI-BD 19.65 (10.48) 7.20 (6.30) 7.00 (5.88) 0.016 This study assessed the presence of interpersonal ALEs
in patients with ED and elucidated the relationships of
BMI 25.59 (10.36) 28.34 (7.23) 22.85 (1.70) 0.513 pre-13 interpersonal ALEs with BID, impulsivity, and
Note: We represent the significant differences in bold. *Kruskal–Wallis perfectionism. As hypothesized, the results indicated
test, with P<0.05. that patients in the ED group who reported pre-13
Abbreviations: ALEs: Adverse life events; BD: Body dissatisfaction;
BID: Body image distortion; BMI: body mass index; CDRS: Contour interpersonal ALEs had significantly higher levels of BID
Drawing Rating Scale; CG: Control group; ED: Eating disorders; than those in the other two groups. Patients in the ED
EDI-BD: Eating disorder inventory, subscale body dissatisfaction; group overestimated their body shape, both visually and
EDI-I: Eating disorder inventory, subscale impulse regulation; non-visually. However, the difference in overestimation
EDI-P: Eating disorder inventory, subscale perfectionism; between the groups was significant only for visual BID.
RMDD: Recurrent major depressive disorder; SD: Standard deviation.
Studies have reported a relationship between BID in
in the ED group was not significantly different compared patients with ED and changes in brain function in the
with that in the RMDD and control groups. parietal cortex while undergoing visual self-assessment. 15,27
Chemisquy and Helguera suggested that individuals with
3.3.2. Relationship between ALEs, impulsivity, high perfectionism are particularly vulnerable to stressful
perfectionism, and BID in the ED group relationships. Children who experience interpersonal
28
At the intragroup level, patients in the ED group who ALEs may develop strategies to cope with negative
reported interpersonal ALEs exhibited heightened emotions, including exerting control over their bodies. This
levels of perfectionism (P = 0.041) and impulsivity may affect the accuracy of self-evaluation when looking in
(P = 0.056). Conversely, patients in the RMDD group the mirror because of the influence of their perfectionist
who had interpersonal ALEs showed reduced impulsivity tendencies. This could explain why patients with ED and
(P = 0.002). interpersonal ALEs tend to report negative self-evaluations

Volume 2 Issue 4 (2024) 6 doi: 10.36922/jcbp.4662