SynthesisPsychology and psychotherapy2026
The experience of body image in people with psychosis and psychotic-like experiences: A co-produced mixed-methods systematic review and narrative synthesis.
Synthesis in Psychology and psychotherapy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The experience of body image in people with psychosis and psychotic-like experiences: A co-produced mixed-methods systematic review and narrative synthesis.Psychology and psychotherapy · 2026Pooled it
- Validation of the Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire (DCQ) in First-Episode Schizophrenia.Early intervention in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Co-occurring eating disorder and psychosis: a lived experience case exploration with examples and suggestions for personalized integrated treatment approach.Journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeBody image is a transdiagnostic construct that seems poorly understood in psychosis. Poor body image is associated with paranoia, which makes it a theoretically meaningful treatment target in psychosis. We systematically reviewed associations between body image and psychosis symptoms in both the 'general' population and people living with psychotic disorders, synthesised known correlates of negative body image in people living with psychotic disorders and performed a meta-synthesis to understand the lived experience of body image in people with psychosis.
methodsOvid MEDLINE, OVID Embase, OVID APA PsycINFO, EBSCOhost Cinahl and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched in January 2024. The methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed using the mixed-methods appraisal tool.
results20,565 participants were included from 31 studies, of which 2127 (10.3%) were living with psychotic conditions, 18,294 from the general population, 129 people with other conditions being compared to psychosis (such as bipolar disorder) and 15 carers. There were 25 quantitative studies (24 cross-sectional, 1 prospective), 5 qualitative studies and 1 mixed-methods study. Cross-sectional evidence suggests associations between negative body image and psychotic symptoms, especially paranoia, as well as wider mental and physical health outcomes. Potential factors contributing to the persistence of poor body image include psychotic symptoms, worries about appearance-related judgements, negative self-concept, body ambivalence, appearance-related safety-seeking behaviours and traumatic memories.
conclusionsNegative body image is relevant to the lives of people with psychosis spectrum conditions. Recommendations to guide and improve future research are reported.
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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.