Visual Attention Patterns Toward Female Bodies in Anorexia Nervosa-An Eye-Tracking Study with Adolescents and Adults

Abstract

Attentional biases seem to play an important role in anorexia nervosa (AN). The objective of this study was to measure visual attention patterns toward female bodies in adolescents and adults with and without AN in order to explore developmental and disease-specific aspects. Female adult and adolescent patients with AN (n = 38) and control participants (n = 39) viewed standardized photographic stimuli showing women's bodies from five BMI categories. The fixation times on the bodies and specific body parts were analyzed. Differences between participants with and without AN did not emerge: All participants showed increased attention toward the body, while adolescents displayed shorter fixation times on specific areas of the body than adults. Increased visual attention toward areas indicative of weight (e.g., hips, thighs, abdomen, buttocks) and a shorter fixation time on unclothed body parts were observed in all participants. There is evidence for the developmental effect of differential viewing patterns when looking at women's bodies. The attention behavior of patients with AN seems to be similar to that of the control groups, which is partly consistent with, and partly contradictory to, previous studies.

Keywords: adolescents; anorexia nervosa; body stimuli; eye tracking.

Figure 1

Photographic stimuli showing women’s bodies from five BMI categories (from left to right): strongly underweight, underweight, normal weight, overweight, and strongly overweight.

Figure 2

Fixation times on the total body relative to area and total fixation time (ms/ms) in the photographic stimuli of adolescents and adults (mean ± 1 SE).

Figure 3

Fixation times within the unclothed and clothed body parts relative to the area and total fixation time (ms/ms) within the picture for the total sample (mean ± 1 SE).