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Abstract
Feelings of dissatisfaction and distress related to one's perception of one's body are collectively referred to as body image disturbance (BID), a common phenomenon among young women. BID is a clinically significant problem that is linked to depression, sexual dysfunction, social dysfunction, and the onset and maintenance of eating disorders. Cognitive-behavioral treatments for BID have limited long-term effectiveness. Previous research on cognitive processing biases suggests that women with BID demonstrate differences in their implicit behavioral responses to body-related stimuli in the environment, suggesting that clinical interventions targeting implicit behaviors may lead to more effective treatment. However, this research is limited by methodology that lacks ecological validity. Virtual reality (VR) offers near-perfect experimental control over environmental variables while maintaining realism and allowing for automatic and unobtrusive behavioral measurement. There has been limited research on BID using VR, and no research to date using this methodology to explore implicit behavioral processes among women with BID. The present study explores behavioral measurement of BID using VR. Environmental variables of body salience and social presence were manipulated in a 2x2 design to create four distinct immersive virtual environments (IVE) designed to elicit varying levels of state body dissatisfaction. A total of 78 female undergraduate students were sorted into two groups: control (n=40) and elevated weight-and-shape concerns (n=38); all subjects were exposed to all four IVE in counterbalanced order. State body satisfaction was measured immediately following exposure to each IVE to determine whether VR elicits similar fluctuations in body satisfaction as predicted in the non-VR BID literature. In two of the IVE, subjects were exposed to female avatars of various body sizes: (a) thin/underweight, (b) average weight, and (c) overweight. In IVE with high body salience and social presence, state body satisfaction decreased for women in both groups. In IVE with avatars, subjects' minimum interpersonal distance and amount of time spent looking at avatars of each body size was measured. Between groups, differences were found with regard to interpersonal distance. Weight-and-shape-concerned women demonstrated a closer mean approach distance to thin avatars (M=.57 m, SD=.025) as compared to average size avatars (M=.60 m, SD=.023), whereas women in the control group approached closer to average-size avatars (M=0.538 m, SD=.024) versus thin avatars, (M= 0.572 m, SD=.026), respectively. With regard to visual gaze, women in the control visually attended to average-size avatars for a greater percentage of overall time in IVE (M=28.4%, SD.006) as compared to overweight (M=26.9%, SD=.006) or thin avatars (M=26.7, SD=.007). Weight/shape concerned subjects spent a greater proportion of time attending to thin avatars (M=29.2%, SD=.006) as compared to average, (M=26.9%, SD=.006) or overweight avatars (M=25.6%, SD=.006). Across all subjects, there was a preference to approach thin or average-weight avatars as compared to overweight avatars. Implications for future use in clinical assessment, interventions, and research directions are discussed.
