Startle as an objective measure of distress related to teasing and body image

• Published in: The International journal of eating disorders Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 58 - 64
• Main Authors: Spresser, Carrie D., Keune, Kristen M., Filion, Diane L., Lundgren, Jennifer D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.01.2011; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; body dissatisfaction; Body Image; Bullying; College students; Eating disorders; Emotions; Female; Females; Human body; Humans; physiological measure; picture viewing; Reflex, Startle; Reflexes; Self image; startle reflex; teasing; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0276-3478; 1098-108X
• DOI: 10.1002/eat.20774

Objective: The startle reflex was used to assess negative emotion in response to body image cues in persons with and without body‐related teasing histories. Method: Fifty‐three female college students viewed photos of themselves both unaltered and morphed to look heavier and thinner. Participants with a teasing history were compared to participants without a teasing history on self‐report measures and the affect modulated startle paradigm when viewing the photos. Results: All participants, regardless of teasing history, self‐reported that the photo morphed to look heaviest was more unpleasant than the neutral photo. When assessed by the affect modulated startle paradigm, a significant teasing history by photo interaction was found between the neutral and morphed to look heaviest photos and the neutral and morphed to look smallest photo. Those with a teasing history had greater startle response to the morphed images in comparison to the neutral images than did those without a teasing history. Discussion: College‐aged women with weight‐related teasing histories may have negative emotional reactions to personally relevant body image cues, as measured by the startle reflex, even when they subjectively report no distress. Objective measures, such as the startle reflex should be considered when assessing emotional reactions to body image cues. © 2010 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2011; 44:58–64)