Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T10:49:28.862Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Interpretive Biases for Ambiguous Information in Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Abstract

Anxiety-disordered patients and individuals with high trait anxiety tend to interpret ambiguous information as threatening. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether interpretive biases would also occur in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which is characterized by a preoccupation with imagined defects in one's appearance. We tested whether BDD participants, compared with obsessive-compulsive disorder participants and healthy controls, would choose threatening interpretations for ambiguous body-related, ambiguous social, and general scenarios. As we hypothesized, BDD participants exhibited a negative interpretive bias for body-related scenarios and for social scenarios, whereas the other groups did not. Moreover, both clinical groups exhibited a negative interpretive bias for general scenarios.

Type
Original Research
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Press; 1994.Google Scholar
2.Rich, N, Rosen, JC, Orosan, T, Reiter, J. Prevalence of body dysmorphic disorder in nonclinical populations. Annual Convention of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy: Boston, Mass; 1992.Google Scholar
3.Hollander, E, Neville, D, Frenkel, M, Josephson, S, Liebowitz, MR. Body dysmorphic disorder. Diagnostic issues and related disorders. Psychosomatics. 1992;33:156165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Neziroglu, F, Anderson, M, Yaryura-Tobias, JA. An in-depth review of obsessive-compulsive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, hypochondriasis, and trichotillomania: therapeutic issues and current research. Crisis Interv. 1999;5:5994.Google Scholar
5.Phillips, KA, Atala, KD, Albertini, RS. Case study: Body dysmorphic disorder in adolescents. J Am Acad Child Psychiatry. 1995;34:12161220.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.McNally, RJ. Cognitive bias in the anxiety disorders. Nebr Symp Motiv. 1996;43:211250.Google ScholarPubMed
7.Williams, JMG, Watts, FN, MacLeod, C, Mathews, A. Cognitive Psychology and Emotional Disorders. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons; 1997.Google Scholar
8.Buhlmann, U, McNally, RJ, Wilhelm, S, Florin, I. Selective processing of emotional information in body dysmorphic disorder. J Anxiety Disord. In press.Google Scholar
9.Hope, DA, Rapee, RM, Heimberg, RG, Dombeck, MJ. Representations of the self in social phobia: vulnerability to social threat. Cognitive Ther Res. 1990;14:177189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Amin, N, Foa, EB, Coles, ME. Negative interpretation bias in social phobia. Behav Res Ther. 1998;36:945957.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Constans, JI, Penn, DL, Ihen, GH, Hope, DA. Interpretive biases for ambiguous stimuli in social anxiety. Behav Res Ther. 1999;37:643651.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.McNally, RJ, Foa, EB. Cognition and agoraphobia: bias in the interpretation of threat. Cognitive Ther Res. 1987;11:567581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.First, MB, Spitzer, RL, Gibbon, M, et al.Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders-Patient Edition. New York, NY: Biometrics Research Department, New York Psychiatric Institute; 1995.Google Scholar
14.Beck, AT, Steer, RA. Beck Depression Inventory Manual. San Antonio, Tex: The Psychological Corporation; 1987.Google Scholar
15.Phillips, KA, Hollander, E, Rasmussen, SA, Aronowitz, BR, Decaria, C, Goodman, WK. A severity rating scale for body dysmorphic disorder: development, reliability and validity of a modified version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. Psychopharmacol Bull. 1997;33:1722.Google ScholarPubMed
16.Watson, D, Friend, R. Measurement of social-evaluative anxiety. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1969;33:448457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Zachary, RA. Shipley Institute of Living Scale: Revised Manual. Los Angeles, Calif: Western Psychological Services; 1991.Google Scholar
18.Goodman, WK, Price, LH, Rasmussen, SA, et al.The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. II. Validity. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1989;46:10121016.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Wechsler, D. Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. New York, NY: The Psychological Corporation; 1981.Google Scholar
20.Butler, G, Mathews, A. Cognitive processes in anxiety. Adv Behav Res Ther. 1983;5:5162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Phillips, KA, McElroy, SL, Keck, PE, Pope, HG, Hudson, JI. Body dysmorphic disorder: 30 cases of imagined ugliness. Am J Psychiatry. 1993;150:302308.Google ScholarPubMed
22.Phillips, KA, McElroy, SL, Hudson, JI, Pope, HG Jr.Body dysmorphic disorder: an obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder, a form of affective spectrum disorder, or both? J Clin Psychiatry. 1995;56:4151.Google ScholarPubMed
23.Eisen, JL, Phillips, KA, Rasmussen, SA. Delusionality in obsessive-compulsive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, and mood disorders. Syllabus and Proceedings Summary, American Psychiatric Association, 149th Annual Meeting. New York, NY: American Psychiatric Association, 1996: 165.Google Scholar
24.Wilhelm, S, Neziroglu, F. Cognitive Theory of body dysmorphic disorder. In: Frost, RO, Steketee, G, eds. Cognitive Approaches to Obsessions and Compulsions: Theory, Assessment and Treatment. Oxford, England: Elsevier Press. In press.Google Scholar