Your body, my experience: A systematic review of embodiment illusions as a function of and method to improve body image disturbance

Abstract

AbstractEmbodiment illusions—which manipulate multisensory integration processes underlying self-perception—are increasingly used to understand and improve body image disturbance (BID): a core symptom of eating disorders (EDs) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). The current systematic review is the first to evaluate clinical and community-based evidence on whether (i) variations involving BID impact embodiment illusion susceptibility and (ii) embodiment illusions can improve BID. Thirty-two studies met inclusion criteria. Greater embodiment was generally observed among individuals with high (relative to low/no) BID (9 out of 14 studies; 64.29%). Embodiment produced an improvement in BID in most studies (20 out of 24; 83.33%). Effect sizes were generally medium to large across both findings. Although several issues exist within the literature (e.g., substantial methodological heterogeneity, non-validated measures), findings reiterate that disturbances in multisensory integration appear to underpin BID, although embodiment illusions offer opportunities to develop new therapeutic interventions for BID. Multiple factors are of particular interest for ensuring that embodiment illusion paradigms are best designed for future research and application (e.g., virtual reality versus real-world methods).