Objectives: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterized by repetitive behaviors and/or mental acts occurring in response to preoccupations with perceived defects or flaws in physical appearance. There are some similarities, but also important differences, between BDD and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), not just in terms of core clinical symptoms, but possibly in the domain of perception. This study compared the nature and extent of perceptual anomalies in BDD versus OCD and health controls (HC), using a modified Mooney task. Methods: We included 21 BDD, 19 OCD, and 21 HC participants, who were age-, sex-, and IQ-matched. A set of 40 Mooney faces and 40 Mooney objects arranged in three configurations (i.e., upright, inverted, or scrambled) were presented under brief (i.e., 500 ms) free-viewing conditions. Participants were asked to decide whether each image represented a human face, an object, or neither in a forced-choice paradigm. Results: The BDD group showed significantly reduced face and object inversion effects relative to the other two groups. This was accounted for by BDD participants being significantly more accurate in identifying inverted Mooney faces and objects than the other participants. Conclusions: These data were interpreted as reflecting an overreliance on independent components at the expense of holistic (configural) processing in BDD. (JINS, 2017, 23, 471–480)

Background: Video feedback (VF) interventions effectively reduce social anxiety symptoms and negative self-perception, particularly when they are preceded by cognitive preparation (CP) and followed by cognitive review. Aims: In the current study, we re-examined data from a study on the efficacy of a novel VF intervention for individuals high in social anxiety to test the hypothesis that physical appearance anxiety would moderate the effects of VF. Method: Data were analyzed from 68 socially anxious participants who performed an initial public speech, and were randomly assigned to an Elaborated VF condition (VF plus cognitive preparation and cognitive review), a Standard VF condition (VF plus cognitive preparation) or a No VF condition (exposure alone), and then performed a second speech. Results: As hypothesized, when appearance concerns were low, both participants who received Elaborated and Standard VF were significantly less anxious during speech 2 than those in the No VF condition. However, when levels of appearance concern were high, neither Elaborated nor Standard VF reduced anxiety levels during speech 2 beyond the No VF condition. Conclusions: Results from our analog sample suggest the importance of tailoring treatment protocols to accommodate the idiosyncratic concerns of socially anxious patients.

Empirical research on women's feelings about their body size has traditionally focused on adolescents and young adults and has been carried out within the framework of experimental social psychology. This article examines the subjective meanings of body size for a sample of 12 women aged between 63 and 75 years via an analysis of in-depth interview data. The findings suggest that body size has a complexity of contradictory meanings for older women, which are shaped in relation to social discourses surrounding beauty ideals, gender identity and constructions of age and ageing. Many of the older women were dissatisfied with their body size, highlighting the cross-generational influence of a ‘thin ideal’ of size. At the same time, however, the women adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards body size and eating, rejecting the pressures surrounding size and food. This attitude was related to the women's constructions of this stage of their lives as a time of freedom, their awareness of personal mortality, and their beliefs about the inevitability of weight-gain as they grew older. The findings are discussed in relation to feminist approaches to body size and gerontological research on age/gender stereotypes.