Body image in female cosmetic surgery patients and women with eating disorder symptoms

Context and relevance. The high prevalence of disordered eating, coupled with the growing societal focus on aesthetic surgery, underscores the need for a comparative psychological investigation of women who pursue different pathways to alter their appearance. Objective. The aim of the study was to compare the clinical and psychological factors contributing to body dissatisfaction in women with symptoms of eating disorders (EDs) (n=70, M_age=33,4; SD=9,83), female cosmetic surgery patients (n=74, M_age=37; SD=8,27), and non-surgical controls - women with no history of cosmetic surgery and not at risk for EDs according to the SCOFF screening (n=70, M_age=35,6; SD=10,54). The EDs symptom group included 12 inpatients with a confirmed diagnosis, 22 participants who self-reported a physician-established diagnosis, and 36 participants at high risk for EDs (SCOFF ≥ 2) without a confirmed diagnosis. Hypothesis. 1. There are both general and group-specific predictors of body image dissatisfaction. 2. Female cosmetic surgery patients, women with ED symptoms, and conditionally healthy women differ in the severity of psychopathological symptoms, perceptions of their appearance, and self-attitude. Methods and materials. The following psychometric tools were used: Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), Self-attitude Questionnaire by Pantileyev, Stolin (a measure of global self-attitude and its dimensions, including self-respect, self-liking, self-blame, etc.); Body Image Questionnaire (Skugarevsky, Sivuha, 2006); Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire, MBSRQ) («the Body Areas Satisfaction Scale»); Appearance-based Rejection Sensitivity Scale; The Body Image Quality of Life Inventory (BIQLI); The SCOFF questionnaire; Custom-designed questionnaire. Results.Women with symptoms of EDs showed significantly greater psychological distress, poorer self-esteem, and more negative body image compared to other groups. Universal predictors of body dissatisfaction included appearance-based rejection sensitivity and body areas evaluation, with rejection sensitivity showing strongest predictive power, particularly among cosmetic surgery patients. Depression emerged as a unique predictor in the eating disorders group, while body image-related quality of life was specific to cosmetic surgery patients. Conclusions. These results may inform targeted psychotherapeutic interventions for body image disturbances and disordered eating.

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