Effectiveness of Object Relations Therapy on Self-Concept and Physical Appearance Perfectionism in People with Body dysmorphic disorder

Akbari, Zahra; Talebi, Alireza

doi:10.22059/japr.2025.386121.645078

Effectiveness of Object Relations Therapy on Self-Concept and Physical Appearance Perfectionism in People with Body dysmorphic disorder

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Zahra Akbari ¹

Alireza Talebi ²

¹ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Najaf-Abad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najaf-Abad, Iran.

² Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Najaf Abad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najaf Abad, Iran.

10.22059/japr.2025.386121.645078

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of object relations therapy on self-concept and physical appearance perfectionism in people with body dysmorphic disorder. The current study was a semi-experimental application with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group and a two-month follow-up period. The statistical population of this research included people with body dysmorphic disorder who referred to the psychotherapy centers of Isfahan city in the first six months of 2024. In this research, 30 people with body dysmorphic disorder were selected by purposeful sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (15 people in the experimental group and 15 people in the control group). The people in the experimental group received the of object relations therapy during seven weeks in fourteen 90-minute sessions. Body Deformity Disorder Questionnaire (BDDQ), Self Concept Questionnaire (SCQ) and Physical Appearance Perfectionism Questionnaire (PAPQ) were used in the present study. The data were analyzed through mixed ANOVA via SPSS23 software. The results showed that object relations therapy has significant effect on the self-concept (p<0.0001) and physical appearance perfectionism (p<0.0001) in people with body dysmorphic disorder.

Keywords

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Object Relations Therapy

Self-Concept

Physical Appearance Perfectionism