Exaggerated Self-Referencing in Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• The self-prioritization effect describes a cognitive bias where individuals preferentially learn and process self-relevant information over information pertaining to others.
• This bias may be implicated in the disrupted body image and perception characteristic of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a condition marked by preoccupation with perceived flaws.
• Understanding self-prioritization in BDD could offer insights into the disorder's underlying mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between the self-prioritization effect and Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) symptom severity.
• To explore how individuals with varying levels of BDD symptoms learn and process self-related versus other-related information.
• To examine reaction time and accuracy in associating stimuli with the self, a friend, or a stranger in relation to BDD severity.

Main Methods:

• An associative learning matching paradigm was employed, presenting participants with geometric shapes paired with 'You', a 'Friend', or a 'Stranger'.
• Participants indicated 'match' or 'mismatch' for label-shape pairings, assessing accuracy and reaction times.
• The Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire (BDDQ) was used to measure symptom severity; impulsivity and depression were also assessed in Experiment 2.

Main Results:

• Higher BDDQ scores correlated with improved accuracy in identifying self-related associations compared to stranger associations, with friend associations being intermediate.
• Experiment 2 revealed that higher BDDQ scores were linked to better accuracy for 'You' matches over 'Friend' matches and faster reaction times overall.
• No significant relationship was found between reaction time effects and impulsivity or depression.

Conclusions:

• Individuals with higher BDD symptom severity exhibit an enhanced self-prioritization effect, demonstrating faster learning and processing of self-relevant cues.
• These findings suggest that exaggerated salience of person-centered cues, particularly self-related ones, plays a significant role in BDD.
• The study extends the understanding of self-prioritization to the learning of new self-related information in the context of BDD.