The bidirectional association between body dysmorphic symptoms, body image inflexibility, and appearance-related safety behaviors in young Chinese women.

IF 1.9 3区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Psychology & Health Pub Date : 2025-09-17 DOI:10.1080/08870446.2025.2560366

Xiaole Huang, Youwei Yan

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives: Previous studies and theories have shown a bidirectional association between body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) symptoms, body image inflexibility, and appearance-related safety behaviors. Most previous studies are cross-sectional studies, lacking longitudinal studies. We aimed to explore the roles of body image inflexibility and appearance-related safety behaviors in BDD symptoms through a longitudinal study.

Methods and measures: A questionnaire-based method was employed to conduct three follow-up measurements with a three-month interval among 325 female college students in China.

Results: Cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) revealed that there are bidirectional associations between BDD symptoms and body image inflexibility, between BDD symptoms and avoidance behaviors, and between avoidance behaviors and body image inflexibility to some extent. The random intercept cross-lagged model (RI-CLPM) showed that at the within-individual level, avoidance behaviors at T1 can positively predict body image inflexibility at T2.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that the chronicity of BDD arises from the dynamic association between the trait vulnerability of body image inflexibility and the process of behavioral reinforcement. The treatment of BDD needs to block avoidance behaviors and modify such trait vulnerability.

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中国年轻女性身体畸形症状、身体形象不灵活性和外表安全行为之间的双向关联

目的：以往的研究和理论表明，身体畸形障碍（BDD）症状、身体形象不灵活性和外观相关安全行为之间存在双向关联。以往的研究多为横断面研究，缺乏纵向研究。我们旨在通过一项纵向研究来探讨身体形象不灵活性和外观相关安全行为在BDD症状中的作用。方法与措施：采用问卷调查法对325名中国女大学生进行3次随访，每隔3个月进行一次。结果：交叉滞后面板模型（cross - backward panel model， CLPM）显示，BDD症状与身体形象不灵活性、BDD症状与回避行为、回避行为与身体形象不灵活性在一定程度上存在双向关联。随机截距交叉滞后模型（RI-CLPM）显示，在个体内水平，T1时的回避行为可以正向预测T2时的身体形象不灵活性。结论：BDD的长期性源于身体形象不灵活性的特质易感性与行为强化过程之间的动态关联。BDD的治疗需要阻断回避行为，改变这种特质的脆弱性。

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来源期刊

Psychology & Health Multiple-

CiteScore

7.30

自引率

3.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Psychology & Health promotes the study and application of psychological approaches to health and illness. The contents include work on psychological aspects of physical illness, treatment processes and recovery; psychosocial factors in the aetiology of physical illnesses; health attitudes and behaviour, including prevention; the individual-health care system interface particularly communication and psychologically-based interventions. The journal publishes original research, and accepts not only papers describing rigorous empirical work, including meta-analyses, but also those outlining new psychological approaches and interventions in health-related fields.