Age-, gender- and diagnosis-specific differences in the body image of psychosomatic outpatients

This study investigates body image with respect to the age, gender, and psychiatric diagnosis (ICD-10) of psychosomatic outpatients based on apriori formulated hypotheses. 865 of the 1114 patients examined over the course of 10 months in a psychosomatic clinic agreed to participate in the study and filled in the Frankfurt Body Concept Scales (FKKS, Deusinger 1998). Patients with one or more psychiatric diagnoses showed significantly more impaired body images than did healthy controls examined with the FKKS. Especially patients with eating disorders stood out. Men generally had more positive body images than women. Higher age was related to some subscales, but not to the sumscore of the FKKS. We discuss the complex relationship between gender- and age-related differences, mental disorders and body image, as well as their therapeutic implications.