Evaluating implicit attractiveness beliefs in body dysmorphic disorder using the Go/No-go Association Task
Ulrike Buhlmann1, Bethany A Teachman, Norbert Kathmann
1Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Department of Clinical Psychology, Rudower Chaussee 18, 12489 Berlin, Germany. ulrike.buhlmann@hu-berlin.de
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
|February 15, 2011
Summary
Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) show stronger implicit associations between attractiveness and importance compared to controls. The Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT) effectively identified these differences, unlike previous methods.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Cognitive-behavioral models propose exaggerated appearance beliefs in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).
- Previous implicit association studies using the Implicit Association Test (IAT) found no differences in attractiveness beliefs between BDD and control groups.
- Methodological limitations of the IAT, such as requiring a relative comparison category, may obscure group differences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate explicit and implicit attractiveness beliefs in individuals with BDD.
- To compare the efficacy of the Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT) with traditional implicit measures in detecting BDD-related biases.
- To explore the utility of the GNAT in assessing implicit associations in clinical populations.
Main Methods:
- Evaluated explicit and implicit attractiveness beliefs in three groups: BDD (n=36), dermatological condition (n=36), and healthy controls (n=36).
- Utilized the single-target category Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT) to measure implicit associations.
- Compared GNAT results with explicit attractiveness beliefs and findings from previous IAT studies.
Main Results:
- Individuals with BDD exhibited significantly stronger implicit associations between 'attractive' and 'important' compared to both dermatological and healthy control groups.
- No significant differences in implicit associations were found between the dermatological condition and healthy control groups.
- The GNAT successfully classified individuals with BDD, demonstrating predictive power beyond explicit belief measures.
Conclusions:
- The GNAT is a sensitive tool for detecting implicit biases in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), overcoming limitations of previous implicit measures.
- Implicit associations between attractiveness and importance are heightened in BDD, aligning with cognitive-behavioral models.
- The GNAT's single-target design makes it suitable for assessing implicit associations in clinical populations where comparison categories may be problematic.
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