The role of bodily experiences during pregnancy on mother and infant outcomes.

Pregnancy is a transformative time for women and their bodies, and therefore thoughts and feelings and about one's own body and internal bodily sensations may understandably change during this period. Body satisfaction and interoception have been found to influence factors such as antenatal attachment (AA) and maternal mental health. However, mixed results in the literature suggest complex relationships between the bodily experience during pregnancy and outcomes, necessitating a broader investigative approach. We aim to examine the relationship between the pregnancy bodily experience and multiple mother-infant outcomes. It is hypothesised that poor bodily experiences during pregnancy will have negative impacts on these outcomes. Cross-sectional online survey data was collected from individuals at various gestations throughout pregnancy as part of a larger longitudinal study (N = 253, mean age = 32). We analysed validated measures of pregnancy body satisfaction, interoceptive sensibility, AA and mood, as well as intentions to breastfeed. Linear regressions were used to confirm findings from previous literature and a network analysis allowed for a more exploratory approach to understanding the importance of the bodily experience during pregnancy. Multiple regressions found low body satisfaction predicts higher levels of anxiety, depression and AA. A network analysis revealed relationships between body satisfaction and interoception during pregnancy and mother-infant outcomes, including depression and AA. Our results highlight the far-reaching effects of poor bodily experiences during pregnancy on a variety of outcomes. Understanding the impact of the pregnant bodily experience can help identify at-risk individuals and inform interventions.

Body understanding measure for pregnancy scale (BUMPs): Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties among Brazilian pregnant women.

The Body Understanding Measure for Pregnancy Scale (BUMPs) is a scale developed and validated for British pregnant women to assess body satisfaction during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to perform a cross-cultural adaptation and verify the psychometric properties of BUMPs for Brazilian adult pregnant women. The cross-cultural adaptation was performed using translation, back-translation, expert committee, expert analysis, and pre-testing, which showed easy comprehension by pregnant women. Psychometric analyses were evaluated in a sample of 618 pregnant women (31.08 ± 4.94 years old). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in 19 items and three factors, with satisfactory fit indices. BUMPs presented an invariant measurement across white vs. nonwhite women and across the three gestational trimesters. BUMPs showed good indicators of convergent, internal consistency, and test-retest reproducibility validity. It was concluded that the Brazilian version of BUMPs has adequate psychometric properties for Brazilian pregnant women, being an excellent instrument for analyzing body satisfaction in this population, facilitating additional investigations into these constructs.

Bonding with bump: Interoceptive sensibility moderates the relationship between pregnancy body satisfaction and antenatal attachment.

PROBLEM: There is limited understanding and contradictory results regarding the contribution of the pregnant bodily experience to antenatal attachment. BACKGROUND: Antenatal attachment is an important aspect of pregnancy, which has been linked with positive maternal and infant outcomes. Given the profound physical process of pregnancy, it is likely that bodily experience is implicated in antenatal attachment, with research supporting the involvement of pregnancy body (dis)satisfaction. However, previous research reveals conflicting results and has only focused on exteroceptive bodily experience (appearance) rather than internal physiological sensations (interoception). AIM: To examine the relative contributions of both external and internal bodily experience in antenatal attachment. METHODS: This cross-sectional study collected online survey data from 159 pregnant participants with measures capturing interoceptive sensibility (subjective experience of interoception), pregnancy body dissatisfaction and antenatal attachment. FINDINGS: We replicated previous findings that pregnancy body dissatisfaction is related to antenatal attachment. However, the relationship between pregnancy body dissatisfaction and antenatal attachment was moderated by worry about interoceptive signals. The interoceptive construct of body trust was most strongly associated with antenatal attachment. DISCUSSION: The results suggest that interoception is important for antenatal attachment, particularly feelings of body trust. Moreover, for individuals who were less worried about bodily sensations, high levels of body dissatisfaction were associated with low attachment scores, whilst for those who were more concerned about these sensations, the relationship between body dissatisfaction and antenatal attachment was mitigated. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that focusing on internal sensations may be a protective strategy against pregnancy body dissatisfaction to strengthen maternal bonds.

The effects of yoga-based interventions on postnatal mental health and well-being: A systematic review.

Background: The postnatal period is a critical time for maternal mental health, presenting unique challenges and vulnerabilities. Identifying effective and accessible strategies to improve postnatal mental health and well-being is therefore crucial and could have substantial benefits for both mothers and babies, alongside broader implications for healthcare systems. Yoga is a potential intervention that has demonstrated notable benefits; however, a gap exists in systematically evaluating the existing literature on postnatal yoga-based interventions. This systematic review addresses this, aiming to comprehensively assess the impact of postnatal yoga on maternal mental health and well-being. Methods: Six databases were searched using keywords "yoga", "yogic", "postnatal", "postpartum", "perinatal", "maternal", "mother*". Articles were considered if they were quantitative and evaluated a yoga or yoga-based intervention in postnatal samples. Study outcomes were extracted and synthesised descriptively. A quality assessment of studies was also conducted. Findings: Of the 383 non-duplicated records that were identified, nine met criteria for full-text review. Only 6 met the inclusion criteria and so were included in the review. Across the 6 studies within this review, data from 377 adult women were included and looked at the outcomes of women in the USA, Northern Ireland, Taiwan and Turkey. The findings of the studies suggest that taking part in postnatal yoga is associated with decreased symptoms of depression, an increase in psychological well-being and quality of life. Key conclusions: Yoga-based interventions may offer a promising and effective intervention for maternal mental health and well-being. However, due to the limited number of studies, and a lack of consistency in study design and measures, more high-quality research is required to establish these effects and explore the potential benefits on other aspects of maternal well-being and infant outcomes.

Multisensory processing and proprioceptive plasticity during resizing illusions.

Bodily resizing illusions typically use visual and/or tactile inputs to produce a vivid experience of one's body changing size. Naturalistic auditory input (an input that reflects the natural sounds of a stimulus) has been used to increase illusory experience during the rubber hand illusion, whilst non-naturalistic auditory input can influence estimations of finger length. We aimed to use a non-naturalistic auditory input during a hand-based resizing illusion using augmented reality, to assess whether the addition of an auditory input would increase both subjective illusion strength and measures of performance-based tasks. Forty-four participants completed the following three conditions: no finger stretching, finger stretching without tactile feedback and finger stretching with tactile feedback. Half of the participants had an auditory input throughout all the conditions, whilst the other half did not. After each condition, the participants were given one of the following three performance tasks: stimulated (right) hand dot touch task, non-stimulated (left) hand dot touch task, and a ruler judgement task. Dot tasks involved participants reaching for the location of a virtual dot, whereas the ruler task concerned estimates of the participant's own finger on a ruler whilst the hand was hidden from view. After all trials, the participants completed a questionnaire capturing subjective illusion strength. The addition of auditory input increased subjective illusion strength for manipulations without tactile feedback but not those with tactile feedback. No facilitatory effects of audio were found for any performance task. We conclude that adding auditory input to illusory finger stretching increased subjective illusory experience in the absence of tactile feedback but did not affect performance-based measures.

Four fundamental dimensions underlie the perception of human actions.

We evaluate the actions of other individuals based upon a variety of movements that reveal critical information to guide decision making and behavioural responses. These signals convey a range of information about the actor, including their goals, intentions and internal mental states. Although progress has been made to identify cortical regions involved in action processing, the organising principles underlying our representation of actions still remains unclear. In this paper we investigated the conceptual space that underlies action perception by assessing which qualities are fundamental to the perception of human actions. We recorded 240 different actions using motion-capture and used these data to animate a volumetric avatar that performed the different actions. 230 participants then viewed these actions and rated the extent to which each action demonstrated 23 different action characteristics (e.g., avoiding-approaching, pulling-pushing, weak-powerful). We analysed these data using Exploratory Factor Analysis to examine the latent factors underlying visual action perception. The best fitting model was a four-dimensional model with oblique rotation. We named the factors: friendly-unfriendly, formidable-feeble, planned-unplanned, and abduction-adduction. The first two factors of friendliness and formidableness explained approximately 22% of the variance each, compared to planned and abduction, which explained approximately 7-8% of the variance each; as such we interpret this representation of action space as having 2 + 2 dimensions. A closer examination of the first two factors suggests a similarity to the principal factors underlying our evaluation of facial traits and emotions, whilst the last two factors of planning and abduction appear unique to actions.

Comparing body image dissatisfaction between pregnant women and non-pregnant women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Body image dissatisfaction refers to negative thoughts and feelings individuals have towards their own body appearance and this is thought to be affected by the physiological changes that occur during pregnancy. There are two main conflicting theories as to the effect pregnancy has on body image dissatisfaction: 1) Pregnancy related changes are in direct conflict with social ideas of female beauty (e.g. weight gain) and so increase body image dissatisfaction; 2) Due to changes in expectations of bodily appearance during pregnancy, women are liberated from social ideals at this time and thus body image dissatisfaction would decrease. This study aimed to assess these theories by synthesising the current literature. Six databases were searched, and 2,017 study abstracts were screened based on strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. Following screening and quality assessment by two blind reviewers, 17 studies (comprising 17 effect sizes) were subject to full review and meta-analysis following PRISMA guidelines. These studies included cross-sectional, longitudinal and retrospective designs. Results varied with some studies showing women to feel more positive about their body during pregnancy, others showing a more negative body experience and yet others showing no statistical difference. Overall the analysis showed no statistical difference in body image dissatisfaction between pregnant women and non-pregnant women (p = 0.39). Any changes that do occur are heterogeneous and likely to be largely dependent on the individual experience as well as moderator variables and other factors such as differences in methodology of research studies. Studies in this field of research would benefit from more explicit and complete reporting of data and key variables, in order to allow early intervention for women who display body image dissatisfaction in pregnancy.

Do selfies make women look slimmer? The effect of viewing angle on aesthetic and weight judgments of women's bodies.

Taking and posting selfies is a popular activity, with some individuals taking and sharing multiple selfies each day. The influence of the selfie angle, as opposed to more traditional photo angles such as the allocentric images we see in print media, on our aesthetic judgements of images of bodies has not been explored. This study compared the attractiveness and weight judgements that participants made of images of the same bodies taken from different visual angles over a series of four experiments (total N = 272). We considered how these judgements may relate to disordered eating thoughts and behaviours. Selfies were judged to be slimmer than images from other perspectives, and egocentric images were judged to be the least attractive. The way participants rated bodies seen from different perspectives was related to their own disordered eating thoughts and behaviours. These results contribute to our understanding of how we perceive the images we see on social media and how these might be related to how we feel about our own and other people's bodies.

Distinct neural signatures of multimodal resizing illusions.

Illusory body resizing typically uses multisensory integration to change the perceived size of a body part. Previous studies associate these multisensory body illusions with frontal theta oscillations and parietal gamma oscillations for dis-integration and integration of multisensory signals, respectively. However, recent studies also support illusory changes of embodiment from unimodal visual stimuli. This preregistered study (N = 48) investigated differences between multisensory visuo-tactile and unimodal visual resizing illusions using EEG, to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the neural underpinnings of resizing illusions in a healthy population. We hypothesised (1) stronger illusion in multisensory compared to unimodal, and unimodal compared to incongruent (dis-integration) conditions, (2) greater parietal gamma during multisensory compared to unimodal, and (3) greater frontal theta during incongruent compared to baseline conditions. Subjective Illusory results partially support Hypothesis 1, showing a stronger illusion in multisensory compared to unimodal conditions, but finding no significant difference comparing unimodal to incongruent conditions. Results partially supported EEG hypotheses, finding increased parietal gamma activity comparing multisensory to unimodal visual conditions, happening at a later stage of the illusion when compared to previous rubber hand illusion EEG findings, whilst also finding increased parietal theta activity when comparing incongruent to non-illusion conditions. While results demonstrated that only 27% of participants experienced the stretching illusion with unimodal visual stimuli compared to 73% of participants experiencing the stretching illusion in the multisensory condition, further analysis suggested that those who experience visual-only illusions exhibit a different neural signature to those who do not, with activity focussed around frontal and parietal regions early on in the illusory manipulation, compared to activity focussed more over parietal regions and at a later point in the illusory manipulation for the full sample of participants. Our results replicate previous subjective experience findings and support the importance of multisensory integration for illusory changes in perceived body size, whilst adding to our understanding of the temporal onset of multisensory integration within resizing illusions, differing from that of rubber hand illusions.

Exploring the effects of gender and sexual orientation on disordered eating: an EFA to CFA study of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire.

Several problems limit our understanding of the ways that gender and sexual orientation influence disordered eating. These include the reliance on measures that have been developed and validated in samples of cisgender heterosexual women, and the lack of confirmed measurement invariance that allows us to meaningfully compare these experiences between groups. This study was an EFA to CFA exploration of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire in a group of heterosexual, bisexual, gay, and lesbian men and women. In total 1638 participants were recruited via adverts in traditional and social media to complete an online survey. A 14-item, three-factor model of the EDE-Q was confirmed as best fitting the data and measurement invariance between groups was ascertained. Sexual orientation influenced disordered eating and muscularity-related thoughts and behaviours in men but not women. Heterosexual men reported more muscularity-related concerns and behaviours, whereas gay men showed more thinness-related concerns and behaviours. Bisexual participants showed a different pattern, highlighting the importance of treating this group individually and not collating all non-heterosexual participants together. Small but significant effects of sexual orientation and gender have an impact on the kinds of disordered eating thoughts and behaviours one might experience, and could influence prevention and treatment. Clinicians may be able to provide more effective and tailored interventions by taking into account gender and sexual orientation in sensitive ways.

Our idea of what an eating disorder looks like is tied to the kind of participant that is usually included in research. However, a wide range of people struggle with their body image. It can be difficult to measure what kinds of experiences these individuals have as the questionnaires typically used were not validated in marginalised groups. This study aims to see if a commonly used questionnaire is useful in men and women identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual and if there are differences in the kinds of disordered eating thoughts and behaviours that these groups experience. A version of the questionnaire with three factors fits this data well. Sexual orientation does seem to influence the rates of disordered eating in men but not women. Heterosexual men experience more behaviours that might be related to muscularity, whereas gay men show more concerns regarding body shape and leanness. Bisexual men show lower levels of disordered eating. We suggest that considering gender and sexual orientation when treating disordered eating may help clinicians to tailor interventions. Our idea of what an eating disorder looks like is a narrow view of a much broader picture.

Interoceptive sensibility and body satisfaction in pregnant and non-pregnant women with and without children.

Pregnancy is a time of great physical and psychological change. As well as prominent changes in the external appearance of the body, such as the baby bump, there are also substantial changes taking place within the body. Our awareness of, and attention towards, internal bodily signals (interoception) is thought to have a direct impact on how we feel about our bodies. Therefore, understanding how our experience of these interoceptive signals might change during pregnancy may have important implications for maternal wellbeing. This study examined body satisfaction and interoceptive sensibility (subjective experience of interoception) in pregnant and non-pregnant women with and without children. Feelings towards pregnancy-specific changes in body satisfaction and interoceptive sensibility were also examined in women in their first pregnancy (primigravida) and subsequent pregnancies (multigravida). It was found that pregnancy did not directly impact levels of body satisfaction, instead pregnant and non-pregnant women with children reported less satisfaction with their bodies compared to those without children. Primigravida women were more satisfied with the appearance of pregnancy specific bodily changes compared to multigravida women. Interestingly, these differences in body satisfaction in those with children (pregnant and non-pregnant) were mediated by the extent to which women trusted their bodies (measure of interoceptive sensibility). All other pregnancy related changes in interoceptive sensibility and body satisfaction were either non-significant or had small effect sizes. These results may suggest body trust as an important factor to support during the transition to parenthood in order to improve body satisfaction in mothers.

Exploring the development of high-level contributions to body representation using the rubber hand illusion and the monkey hand illusion.

During development our body undergoes significant changes, yet we are able to maintain a coherent experience of our body and sense of self. Bodily experience is thought to comprise integration of multisensory signals (vision, touch, and proprioception) constrained by top-down knowledge of body appearance. Evidence from developmental studies suggests that low-level multisensory integration develops throughout childhood, reaching adult levels by 10 years of age. However, how high-level cognitive knowledge changes during childhood to constrain our multisensory body experience is unknown. This study describes four experiments examining high-level contributions to the bodily experience in children compared with adults using the rubber hand illusion and a monkey hand illusion. We found that children (5-17 years of age) exhibited more flexible body representations, showing stronger illusions for small and fantastical (monkey) fake hands compared with adults. Conversely, using a task indirectly capturing changes in hand size, we found that children and adults demonstrated statistically equivalent increases and decreases in hand size following illusions over large and small hands, respectively. Interestingly, at baseline children showed a bias in reporting larger hand size judgments that decreased with age. Finally, we did not find a relationship between individual differences in fantasy proneness and illusion strength for a fantastical (monkey) hand for children or adults, suggesting that developmental changes of top-down constraints are not purely driven by more diffuse boundaries between imagination and reality. These data suggest that high-level constraints acting on our multisensory body experience change during development, allowing children a more flexible bodily experience compared with adults.

The role of affective touch in whole-body embodiment remains equivocal.

Previous studies have highlighted that affective touch delivered at slow velocities (1-10 cm/s) enhances body-part embodiment during multisensory illusions, yet its role towards whole-body embodiment is less established. Across two experiments, we investigated the role of affective touch towards subjective embodiment of a whole mannequin body within the full body illusion, amongst healthy females. Participants perceived affective touch to be more pleasant than non-affective touch, but this did not enhance subjective embodiment within the illusion and no interaction between synchrony (Experiment 1), or congruency (Experiment 2), and the velocity of touch was observed. Finally, the perceived pleasantness of touch was not modulated by subthreshold eating disorder psychopathology, as measured by means of a self-report questionnaire. Therefore, the present findings suggest that enhancement of embodiment due to affective touch may be body-part specific, and not generalise to greater ownership towards a whole body.

An exploratory investigation into the longevity of pain reduction following multisensory illusions designed to alter body perception.

BACKGROUND: Previous research suggests that multisensory body illusions that alter the conscious bodily experience can modulate pain in osteoarthritis, which may be a result of modifying cortical misrepresentations of the painful body part. However, the longevity and underlying mechanisms of such illusion-induced analgesia is unknown. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic potential of body illusions, specifically examining the longevity of pain relief and effects on subjective joint flexibility. We also aimed to test if illusory-induced analgesia was due to limb disownership, which is also thought to be affected by body illusions. METHOD: Multisensory stretch and shrink illusions were used to manipulate mental representations in hand osteoarthritis. Experiment 1 examined longevity of analgesia by comparing pre-illusion pain ratings with post-illusion ratings taken immediately and over a period of four minutes both with and without vision of the manipulated limb. Experiment 2 compared changes in subjective flexibility between the illusion types. Experiment 3 tested whether an illusion that induced a temporary experience of hand loss would indicate limb disownership as a mechanism for modulating pain during body illusions. RESULTS: Illusion-induced analgesia was found to outlast the direct application of both shrink and stretch illusions. Illusory stretching provided more clinically significant pain reduction along with increased subjective flexibility. Disownership of the limb had no effect on pain ratings. CONCLUSIONS: Illusory stretching of the joints in osteoarthritis may have significant clinical potential in development of future pain treatments. The results are also compatible with theories of cortical involvement of pain in osteoarthritis.

Investigating the Components of Body Image Disturbance Within Eating Disorders.

Body image disturbance has been highlighted as a common characteristic within the development and maintenance of clinical eating disorders (EDs), represented by alterations in an individual's bodily experience. However, whilst the perceptual stability of the sense of body ownership has been investigated in ED patients, the stability of the sense of body agency in those with ED is yet to be examined. Therefore, body ownership and body agency were investigated using the moving rubber hand illusion, alongside measures of explicit and implicit body satisfaction. Furthermore, with evidence demonstrating a direct link between perceptual and cognitive-affective components of body image in the healthy population, the relationship between measures of body perception and body satisfaction was investigated. Results showed that both ED and healthy individuals displayed a similar subjective experience of illusory ownership and agency towards the fake hand, following voluntary movement. However, whilst both groups initially overestimated their own hand width prior to the illusion, the ED group displayed a significant reduction in hand size estimation following the illusion, which was not matched to the same degree in healthy individuals. In addition, ED individuals displayed a significantly lower body satisfaction compared with healthy females, on both an explicit and implicit level. Such implicit outcomes were shown to be driven specifically by a weaker association between the self and attractiveness. Finally, a significant relationship was observed between specific perceptual measures and implicit body satisfaction, which highlights the important link between perceptual and cognitive-affective components of one's body image. Together, such findings provide a useful foundation for further research to study the conditions in which these two components relate with regard to body image and its disturbance, particularly in relation to the prognosis and treatment of EDs.

Distinct neural response to visual perspective and body size in the extrastriate body area.

Neuroimaging research has independently implicated the extrastriate body area (EBA) in distinguishing between different visual perspectives and morphologies of bodies within visual processing. However, the combined processing of these physical attributes towards neural EBA response remains unclear, and may be crucial in influencing higher-order, aesthetic evaluation of bodies. Indeed, EBA alterations amongst eating disorder patients have been associated with disturbances in body image, and disruption to EBA activity amongst healthy individuals has been shown to influence aesthetic evaluations made towards bodies. Therefore, the present study used images of slim and large female bodies viewed from egocentric and allocentric perspectives, to investigate neural EBA response amongst healthy females (N = 30). In addition, participants provided behavioural aesthetic and weight evaluations of all model stimuli. Results revealed an interaction, bilaterally, between visual perspective and body size towards EBA activity, with multi-voxel pattern analysis revealing distinct neural patterns between the four conditions. However, EBA activity did not relate to non-clinical eating disorder psychopathology. No direct relationship was found between EBA activity and behavioural evaluations of model stimuli; however, a whole brain analysis revealed that higher-order, prefrontal regions were associated with cognitive evaluations of large bodies. Taken together, our results suggest that the EBA is an integral core region in discriminating between multiple physical attributes of the body, which is likely to provide important information to higher-order brain regions which make aesthetic evaluations towards bodies.

Development and validation of the Body Understanding Measure for Pregnancy Scale (BUMPS) and its role in antenatal attachment.

Pregnancy is a unique period in a woman's life during which her body undergoes rapid and dramatic change. Many of these changes are in direct conflict to social ideals of female body appearance, such as increases in body size and weight. Existing research that has examined body satisfaction in pregnancy is limited by the use of measures that are not designed for pregnancy, yielding biased results. Two studies have attempted to develop measures for pregnancy but have used suboptimal sample sizes and/or have not fully validated the measure with independent samples. We seek to address these limitations in the current study and report the development and validation of the newly developed Body Understanding Measure for Pregnancy scale (BUMPs) in 613 pregnant women across two independent samples. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors; satisfaction with appearing pregnant, weight gain concerns, and physical burdens of pregnancy, which were confirmed with confirmatory factor analysis. Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) modeling indicated the scale is appropriate for women in all three trimesters of pregnancy. Evidence of internal reliability, test-retest reliability and convergent validity provide excellent psychometric support. We further demonstrated construct validity by supporting 3 hypotheses, finding that more positive body satisfaction in pregnancy was related to: (a) better relationship quality; (b) lower depression and anxiety; (c) higher levels of interoception, specifically body listening, and body trusting. Additionally, we present evidence that BUMPs score was the strongest predictor of antenatal attachment when compared against depression, anxiety, gestational age, and relationship satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The Effect of Visual Capture Towards Subjective Embodiment Within the Full Body Illusion.

Typically, multisensory illusion paradigms emphasise the importance of synchronous visuotactile integration to induce subjective embodiment towards another body. However, the extent to which embodiment is due to the 'visual capture' of congruent visuoproprioceptive information alone remains unclear. Thus, across two experiments (total N = 80), we investigated how mere visual observation of a mannequin body, viewed from a first-person perspective, influenced subjective embodiment independently from concomitant visuotactile integration. Moreover, we investigated whether slow, affective touch on participants' own, unseen body (without concomitant touch on the seen mannequin) disrupted visual capture effects to a greater degree than fast, non-affective touch. In total, 40% of participants experienced subjective embodiment towards the mannequin body following mere visual observation, and this effect was significantly higher than conditions which included touch to participants own, unseen body. The velocity of the touch that participants received (affective/non-affective) did not differ in modulating visual capture effects. Furthermore, the effects of visual capture and perceived pleasantness of touch was not modulated by subthreshold eating disorder psychopathology. Overall, this study suggests that congruent visuoproprioceptive cues can be sufficient to induce subjective embodiment of a whole body, in the absence of visuotactile integration and beyond mere confabulatory responses.

Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q): Norms and psychometric properties in U.K. females and males.

The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) is a widely used assessment of eating disorder psychopathology; however, EDE-Q norms are yet to be provided within a nonclinical U.K. adult sample. Second, there is considerable disagreement regarding the psychometric properties of this measure. Several alternative factor structures have been previously proposed, but very few have subsequently validated their new structure in independent samples and many are often confined to specific subpopulations. Therefore, in the current study, we provide norms of the original four-factor EDE-Q structure, and subsequently assess the psychometric properties of the EDE-Q in females and males using a large nonclinical U.K. sample (total N = 2459). EDE-Q norms were consistently higher in females compared with males across all samples. Initial confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) did not support the original 4-factor structure for females or males (Phase 1). However, subsequent exploratory factor analyses (EFA) revealed a 3-factor structure as being the optimal fit for both females and males, using an 18-item and 16-item model, respectively (Phase 2). For females, the newly proposed 18-item structure was validated within an independent student sample and further validated in an additional nonstudent sample. The 16-item 3-factor male structure was also validated within an independent nonstudent sample, but was marginally below accepted fit indices within an independent student sample (Phase 3). Taken together, the above findings suggest that the EDE-Q factor structure may require further reassessment, with greater focus on the qualitative differences in interpretation of EDE-Q items between females and males. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).