Trial reportBritish journal of health psychology2017
An interactive training programme to treat body image disturbance.
Trial report in British journal of health psychology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Role of Serious Video Games in the Treatment of Disordered Eating Behaviors: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- Maze-Out: A Serious Game to Enhance Treatment for Eating Disorders. A Randomized Controlled Trial.The International journal of eating disorders · 2025Trial
- Repeated visual adaptation induces persistent behavioral and neural biases in body size perception.iScience · 2026Article
- The Role of Body Image Perception on a Continuum from Dysfunctional to Healthy Eating Attitudes and Behaviors Among People Seeking Treatment.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Effect of cognitive bias modification training on body image dissatisfaction in adolescents with anorexia nervosa or depression-a pilot feasibility randomized controlled crossover study.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Psychopathological and Organic Features of Atypical Anorexia Nervosa in Developmental Age: A Systematic Review.Pediatric reports · 2024Review
- Body image construction and mental health levels among college students: a data survey of Chinese university students.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Changes in the Prevalence of Thin Bodies Bias Young Women's Judgments About Body Size.Psychological science · 2022Article
- Beyond BMI for self-estimates of body size and shape: A new method for developing stimuli correctly calibrated for body composition.Behavior research methods · 2021Article
- Interpretation bias modification to reduce body dissatisfaction - a randomized controlled pilot study in women with elevated weight and shape concerns.Journal of eating disorders · 2020Article
- Perceptual Not Attitudinal Factors Predict the Accuracy of Estimating Other Women's Bodies in Both Women With Anorexia Nervosa and Controls.Frontiers in psychology · 2019Article
- Effects of exposure to bodies of different sizes on perception of and satisfaction with own body size: two randomized studies.Royal Society open science · 2018Article
- Body size estimation in women with anorexia nervosa and healthy controls using 3D avatars.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Virtual Reality Mood Induction and Body Image Disturbance in Adolescents With Eating Disorders: An Experimental Study.Clinical psychology & psychotherapyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesAnorexia nervosa (AN) is a life-threatening mental health condition. A core feature is a disturbance of body image, such that sufferers see themselves as fatter than they actually are.
designWe tested the effectiveness of a novel training programme to recalibrate our participants' perception of body size.
methodsIn a novel adaptation of a cognitive bias training programme, participants judged the body size of a series of female bodies and were given feedback to improve their accuracy over four daily training sessions. In Study 1, we recruited young women with high concerns about their body size for a randomized controlled study. In Study 2, we then applied the training programme to a case series of women with atypical AN.
resultsIn Study 1, the training programme significantly improved the body size judgements of women with high body concerns compared to controls. We also found evidence of improved body image and reduced eating concerns in this group. In Study 2, the programme again recalibrated the body size judgements of women with atypical AN. We also saw evidence of a clinically meaningful reduction in their body size and eating-disordered concerns.
conclusionsThis training has the potential to be a valuable treatment used together with more traditional talking therapies. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? A core feature of anorexia nervosa (AN) is an overestimation of body size; sufferers believe themselves to be larger than they are in reality. This study shows that an individual's perceptual boundary between what they classify as a fat versus a thin body is not immutable; it can be changed through a cognitive bias training programme. What does this study add? This means that body size overestimation may now be treatable. Critically, as well as improving the accuracy of body size judgements, we also found a clinically significant improvement in participants' eating-disordered concerns. This demonstrates that a targeted behavioural training regime can change body perception, and the central role that body overestimation has in eating-disordered beliefs.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.