Appearance-related safety behaviors (ARSBs) have been identified as a key mechanistic target in individuals with elevated appearance concerns, social anxiety symptoms, and body dissatisfaction. The aim of the present study was to experimentally test the effect of fading these behaviors in individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), social anxiety disorder, and/or an eating disorder (ED). Ninety-four female participants were randomized to either a 1-month text message-based ARSB fading condition (n = 47) or a self-monitoring control condition (n = 47). Findings demonstrated that individuals in the ARSB fading condition saw significantly greater reductions in postmanipulation appearance concerns, appearance importance, ED symptoms, general anxiety, and depression. ARSB fading also led to lower BDD and social anxiety disorder symptoms, though this was only found among those who met for these respective diagnoses. Furthermore, we found that changes in appearance importance partially mediated the effect of condition on appearance concerns, BDD symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, and ED symptoms. Compared to the control, the ARSB fading group also demonstrated less reactivity to an in vivo appearance-related stressor task. This study provides strong evidence for the importance of ARSBs in the maintenance of appearance-related psychopathology among a clinical sample. Findings demonstrate the potential utility of reducing ARSBs as an overarching treatment strategy for appearance-related psychopathology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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对女性临床样本中与外表相关的安全行为进行实验检查。


外观相关安全行为（ARSB）已被确定为对外观问题、社交焦虑症状和身体不满意的个体的关键机制目标。本研究的目的是通过实验测试消除这些行为对患有身体变形障碍（BDD）、社交焦虑障碍和/或饮食障碍（ED）的个体的影响。 94 名女性参与者被随机分配到为期 1 个月的基于短信的 ARSB 褪色条件（n = 47）或自我监控控制条件（n = 47）。研究结果表明，处于 ARSB 衰退状态的个体在操纵后的外观问题、外观重要性、ED 症状、普遍焦虑和抑郁方面显着减少。 ARSB 的消退还导致 BDD 和社交焦虑症症状减轻，尽管这种情况只在那些分别患有这些疾病的人中发现。此外，我们发现外表重要性的变化部分介导了外表问题、BDD 症状、社交焦虑症状和 ED 症状的影响。与对照组相比，ARSB 褪色组还表现出对体内外观相关应激任务的反应性较低。这项研究为 ARSB 在维持临床样本中外观相关精神病理学方面的重要性提供了有力的证据。研究结果表明，减少 ARSB 作为外观相关精神病理学的总体治疗策略具有潜在效用。 （PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2024 APA，保留所有权利）。