Study: Differences in the Artwork of Eating Disordered Women vs. Non-ED Women

Image courtesy of University of Haifa

From Science Daily, a joint study from the University of Haifa, Soroka University Medical Center and Achva Academic College, Israel, published in The Arts in Psychotherapy:

The research team then evaluated the drawings and found various differences between the groups in four aspects:

  • The neck: women suffering from anorexia or bulimia tended to draw a larger neck, a disconnected neck or no neck at all;
  • The mouth: this feature was more emphasized in drawings by women suffering from anorexia or bulimia;
  • The thighs: women with eating disorders drew wider thighs than the other groups in the study;
  • The feet: women with eating disorders tended to draw pictures without feet or with disconnected feet.
  • The study also revealed that self-figure drawings can differentiate between anorexic and bulimic women: those with anorexia tended to omit breasts from their drawings, drew less defined body lines and smaller figures relative to the page size.

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