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So painful, that alien? - The link between depression and body image in young adults

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Abstract

The aim of this work was to investigate the links between the depression and the body image in young adults. The concept of body image was defined as a mental representation of the human body, which is usually unconscious and have cognitive, affective and behavioural aspects. Body image is a part of the person's identity. The subjects of this study were 150 students of five different universities in Warsaw (30 persons from each university) in the age between 18 and 26 years, such as the University of Warsaw, the Warsaw University of Technology, the Medical University of Warsaw, the Warsaw School of Economics and the Academy of Fine Arts. The subjects filled in The Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire - (MBSRQ) of Thomas F. Cash and The Beck Depression Inventory - Second Edition - (BDI-II) of Aaron T. Beck. The obtained results show that depression in young adults is connected with the way of experiencing their body (on various dimensions of their body image).
 4 (147) 2008
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


Autorzy na podstawie badań przeprowadzonych na grupie
150 osób podejmują analizę zależności między depresją a obrazem
ciała rozumianym jako psychiczna reprezentacja własnego ciała.
Uzyskane wyniki wskazują, że osoby z depresją postrzegają własne
ciało w sposób negatywny, co wiąże się z negatywnym przeżywa-
niem siebie i otoczenia, a także wspiera hipotezę mówiącą, że
negatywne uczucia związane z depresją mogą być „przenoszone”
na ciało. W artykule przedstawiono również nie stosowane dotąd
w Polsce narzędzie do pomiaru obrazu ciała – Wielowymiarowy
Kwestionariusz do Badania Obrazu Ciała (MBSRQ).
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7
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

 
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ego


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

      
opiekuna do potrzeb dziecka (attunement



   


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
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

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




 body schema) body image

1. (str. następna).



   
8

     

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
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


    




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


 

Schematu ciała i Obrazu ciała
Schemat ciała Obraz ciała
Orientacja we własnym ciele — orientacja
na powierzchni i wewnątrz własnego ciała,
zmysł kinestetyczny
Świadomość ciała, czyli reprezentacja
psychiczna własnego ciała albo jego części,
która jest dostępna świadomemu spostrze-
ganiu
Ocena wielkości ciała — ocena wielkości
i miejsca, jakie ciało danej osoby zajmuje
w przestrzeni
Granice ciała — doświadczenie oddzielenia
swojego ciała od świata zewnętrznego
Wiedza o ciele — faktyczna wiedza
na temat budowy i funkcji ciała oraz jego
części, łącznie z różnicowaniem prawej
i lewej strony
Stosunek do ciała —– wszystkie postawy
danej osoby w stosunku do jej ciała,
a szczególnie do jej wyglądu
9



 




     

       







      

  

 
 back- translation


Appearance Evaluation AE    




 Appearance Orientation — AO  


      

Fitness Evaluation — FE) 

in shape


 Fitness Orientation FO)   
  

10 
   


Ocena Zdrowia (Heath Evaluation — HE

in good health


Zorientowanie na Zdrowie (Heath Orientation — HO

health conscious   
    

Illness Orientation — IO

   



Body Areas Satisfaction — BAS


  

Overweight Preoccupation — OP
   weight vigilance),

Self — Classied Weigh — SCW

  

   
denitely disagreedenitely
agree





     
     
   

11

Wyniki
    

 



  








Parametry rozkładu wyników w poszczególnych podskalach
dla zależności depresja a obraz ciała Test t–Studenta
Podskale
MBSRQ Depresja NŚrednia Odchylenie
standard. tDf Istotność
(dwustron.)
AE Depresja 51 21,843 5,327 -3,934 146 0,000
Brak 97 25,443 5,272
AO Depresja 51 40,000 9,245 -2,527 147 0,013
Brak 98 43,489 7,273
FE Depresja 51 9,255 2,544 -4,456 147 0,000
Brak 98 11,204 2,528
FO Depresja 50 40,120 8,594 -3,030 146 0,003
Brak 98 44,980 9,531
HE Depresja 51 20,275 4,123 -2,522 146 0,013
Brak 97 22,083 4,155
HO Depresja 51 24,294 4,925 -2,545 147 0,012
Brak 98 26,398 4,716
BAS Depresja 51 28,157 5,693 -5,084 147 0,000
Brak 98 32,939 5,316
OP Depresja 51 10,294 3,828 2,534 147 0,012
Brak 98 8,755 3,346
SCW Depresja 51 6,353 1,885 1,815 76,170 0,073
Brak 98 5,816 1,319
12 

       
  














 




.
Parametry rozkładu wyników podskal MBSRQ
dla zależności „płeć i obraz ciała” Test t–Studenta
Podskale
MBSRQ
Płeć*:
M=1, K=2 NŚrednia Odchylenie
standard. t df Istotność
(dwustron.)
AO 1 78 39,667 8,393 -4,269 148 0,000
272 45,041 6,878
FO 1 78 44,705 9,647 1,923 147 0,056
271 41,745 9,072
OP 1 78 8,461 3,617 -3,083 147,99 0,002
272 10,208 3,322
  






13


  

       


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       
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     


3
nie sub specie aeternitatis
   
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14 
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 
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
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      


    
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  
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  
  


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
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

  





      


     

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
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


    
    

      







 




 
        
2005.
 
 . 
. 
 
 
     
1991.
 

     

         
209–223.
 

 

16 
13. Beck AT, Steer RA, Brown GK. BDI– II. Second Edition. San

         
5–20.
 
 
 

   

 

   
 
  24–32.
    . 


 

  

       
.
      
37–52.
         

 

 

       
    

      





... Body dissatisfaction and negative emotional states often result from comparisons with the ideal [38][39][40] that is frequently and conspicuously presented in the mass media [41,42]. Abnormal body image perceptions may be also attributable to depressive symptoms or major depression [43]. Rzeszutek and Schier [43] reported that young adults with depressive symptoms tended to be more critical of their bodies. ...
... Abnormal body image perceptions may be also attributable to depressive symptoms or major depression [43]. Rzeszutek and Schier [43] reported that young adults with depressive symptoms tended to be more critical of their bodies. Body dissatisfaction may result from discrepancies between real perceptions of one's body and of the body presented in the media and entails a higher risk of eating disorders [39]. ...
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Plain English summary Mass culture conveys a lot of information that women should use to fit the specific canon of beauty regarding the female body. Media body image standards can be absorbed by many women who may feel the pressure of having to conform to these standards. Adopting and adhering to the sociocultural ideals of beauty contributes to the development of body dissatisfaction as well as anorexia readiness syndrome (ARS) that can even lead to eating disorders under certain non-favorable circumstances in the long term. The aim of the study was to examine the contributing factors of ARS – thoughts, emotions and behaviors that may lead to diagnosable anorexia nervosa (AN). The study involved 1533 Polish women from a nonclinical population. Based on a review of the literature, possible determinants of ARS were selected: personality traits, sociocultural factors and degree of body dissatisfaction. Analyses confirmed that internalization and pressure from sociocultural norms (two sociocultural factors), and body dissatisfaction may help predict ARS. Neuroticism (personality trait) was also related to ARS. Knowledge of which factors may contribute to ARS may help in understanding how AN develops and what treatments may help prevent the illness from developing. In future research, it is also worth conducting the study on a group of patients with eating disorders and a group of men. Research on a more diverse group will help to understand the determinants of ARS.
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Vulnerability, scar, and reciprocal-relations models of depressive symptoms and self-esteem were compared among people with severe mental illness (SMI; N=260) participating in a partnership-based intervention study. Assessments were conducted at baseline, midway through the intervention (after 4 months), and at termination (after 9 months). Cross-lagged, structural equation modeling analyses revealed that participants' baseline depressive symptoms predicted a decrease in self-esteem in the first 4 months but not in the subsequent 5 months of participation. Exploratory regression analyses indicated that improved social functioning buffered this deleterious effect of depressive symptoms. These findings, which are consistent with the scar model, highlight the fragile nature of the self and the importance of social functioning in recovery from SMI.
Book
Foreword James S. Grotstein Acknowledgements Introduction Graeme Taylor 1. The development and regulation of affects Graeme Taylor, Michael Bagby and James Parker 2. Affect dysregulation and alexithymia Michael Bagby and Graeme Taylor 3. Measurement and validation of the alexithymia construct Michael Bagby and Graeme Taylor 4. Relations between alexithymia, personality, and affects James Parker and Graeme Taylor 5. The neurobiology of emotion, affect regulation and alexithymia James Parker and Graeme Taylor 6. Somatoform disorders Graeme Taylor 7. Anxiety and depressive disorders and a note on personality disorders Michael Bagby and Graeme Taylor 8. Substance use disorders Graeme Taylor 9. Eating disorders Graeme Taylor 10. Affects and alexithymia in medical illness and disease Graeme Taylor 11. Treatment considerations Graeme Taylor 12. Future directions James Parker, Michael Bagby and Graeme Taylor References Index.
Article
Here she [the author] focuses her attention on psychosomatic disorders and alexithymia (apparent lack of affect) as they make their appearance on the psychoanalytic stage. Persons accustomed to "speaking through their bodies" present enormous challenges to both physicians and psychoanalysts. Their physical distress is disconnected from its emotional component; they have no words to reconnect the two, even in the context of talking therapy. With this formulation in mind, Dr. McDougall shares with her readers unforgettable stories of patients: mothers and grown children who seem trapped in a preverbal merger with one another, which she calls "one body for two"; Tim, whose grief is buried so deeply that he is "heartless"—until he suffers a heart attack; Georgette, whose alarming psychosomatic maladies seem to confirm her very existence; Jack Horner, who disparages the analyst at every turn and yet complains, "I don't know how to live," and many more. With the therapist's insightful and gentle guidance, words are given to the body's messages and the preverbal trauma is addressed. In addressing the needs of psychosomatic patients, often thought to be ill-suited to psychoanalysis, Dr. McDougall not only offers rich theoretical formulations but also expands the realm of the psychoanalytic endeavor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
The purpose of the book was to review previous thought and research on the subject and describe the authors' own formulations and their program of investigation regarding the phenomenon. One phase of the research was conof which were found by use mainly of projective macerned with body image boundaries, the dimensions terial to be Barrier and Penetration of Boundary. The second phase of the research dealt with B-I boundaries and behavior variations. The third phase concerned development of boundaries. The fourth phase related to boundary and body reactivity. The book is concluded with a group of theoretical formulations. A set of illustrative Rorschach protocols and a bibliography of 361 titles are appended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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