A quick glance: Associations between body dysmorphic concerns and eye gaze behaviour during facial image viewing

Poster Session F - Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Bea Calahong¹ (bea.calahong@camh.ca), Joel P. Diaz-Fong^1,2,3, Jessica Qian¹, Sameena Karsan¹, Gerhard Hellemann⁴, Jamie D. Feusner^1,2,3,5; ¹Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, ²University of Toronto, ³University of California Los Angeles, ⁴University of Alabama, ⁵Karolinska Institutet

Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) are preoccupied with misperceived flaws in their appearance, particularly pertaining to their face and head area, which may be attributable to aberrant visual attention. This study examined eye behaviours as participants viewed their own or an unfamiliar face. We hypothesized that (1) participants would exhibit shorter fixation duration (FD) when observing their own versus others’ faces and (2) individuals with greater symptom severity will display shorter FD when viewing their own versus others’ faces. Thirty-six adults (n=16 healthy controls, n=12 subclinical, n=8 BDD) viewed images of themselves and unfamiliar faces. Eye-tracking was recorded using the Eyelink 1000 Plus. The Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire (DCQ), a self-rated scale that measures BDD symptom severity, was administered before the task. To evaluate the impact of image type (self versus other) and BDD symptom severity on fixation duration, a linear mixed model was applied. Image type had a significant impact on FD (p=<0.001), such that viewing one’s face was associated with lower FD compared to viewing others’ (β=-0.13). The interaction between image type and DCQ was also significant (p=0.012); specifically, there was a positive relationship between DCQ and FD for own faces. However, DCQ score alone was not significantly related to FD (p=0.235). In sum, shorter FD when viewing one's face reflects multiple brief fixations, suggesting visual scanning of various facial details, which is specific to viewing one’s face. The results provide insights into the relationship between patterns of visual attention and dimensional distortions of appearance.

Topic Area: PERCEPTION & ACTION: Vision