Different changes of body‐images in patients with anorexia or bulimia nervosa during inpatient psychosomatic treatment

Background Changes of perceptual body size distortion and body dissatisfaction during inpatient psychosomatic treatment were assessed. Differences between patients with anorexia and bulimia nervosa were compared. Methods Forty-one female patients with anorexia and 37 with bulimia nervosa were examined at beginning and end of an inpatient psychosomatic treatment. Body images were assessed by the somatomorph matrix and by the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI-2). Results Both groups showed a distorted body size perception at the beginning of treatment. This decreased with the bulimia patients, with anorexia patients it largely remained in spite of a successful increase in weight. With bulimia patients body satisfaction improved, whereas it hardly changed with anorexia patients. Conclusion Bulimia patients were able to positively modify their body images. Treatment might have enabled patients with anorexia to maintain their level of body satisfaction and to tolerate a bigger perceived body image while they significantly gained weight. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.