Bodily self-disturbance in schizophrenia-spectrum populations: Introducing the Benson et al. Body Disturbances Inventory (B-BODI).
Taylor L Benson, Peter Brugger, Sohee Park
PsyCh Journal March 1, 2019 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.280 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Individuals with schizophrenia, older healthy controls, and college students |
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Bodily self Dissociation Schizophrenia Self disturbance |
| Key findings | The B-BODI accurately captures bodily self-disturbances and may predict psychosis risk in healthy young individuals; anomalous self-disturbances are relatively stable over time in chronic schizophrenia. |
Abstract
Anomalous or weakened sense of self was central to early theories of schizophrenia. Recent studies have also documented disturbances in body ownership and increased susceptibility for dissociative experiences, such as the out-of-body experience in individuals with schizophrenia, but further research is necessary to clarify components of bodily self-disturbances in the schizophrenia spectrum, and the stability of these experiences over time. With respect to methodology, self-disturbances research in schizophrenia tends to rely exclusively on verbal self-report questionnaires and interviews. Given that individuals with schizophrenia suffer from language and communication difficulties, verbal self-report measures may be insufficient. To bridge this gap, we have developed a new picture-based instrument, the Benson et al. Body Disturbances Inventory (B-BODI), designed to quantify bodily self-disturbances with respect to the frequency and vividness of these experiences, as well as the degree of distress associated with them. Drawings that depicted different aspects of aberrant bodily self-experiences were presented with accompanying captions. Participants were asked to indicate the frequency, vividness, and distressfulness of the experience captured by the picture using a 5-point scale. Individuals with schizophrenia, older healthy controls, and college students participated in two alternative versions of the B-BODI. Participants were also asked to complete a battery of established questionnaires that probed psychosis proneness and a range of self, body, and perceptual aberrations. The results suggest that the B-BODI is a useful tool that accurately captures bodily self-disturbances and has the potential to predict psychosis risk in healthy young individuals. Furthermore, anomalous self-disturbances seem to be relatively stable across time in individuals with chronic schizophrenia.
Comparable studies
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| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Survey of entity encounter experiences occasioned by inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine: Phenomenology, interpretation, and enduring effects. People who had a memorable entity encounter after taking N,N-dimethyltryptamine | 2020 | Survey | n = 2,561 |
| Future directions in meditation research: Recommendations for expanding the field of contemplative science Meditators | 2018 | Cross-sectional online survey | n = 1,120 |
| The Phenomenology of Lucid Dreaming: An Online Survey Respondents to an online survey about lucid dreams | 2014 | Online survey | n = 684 |
| The neurophenomenology of early psychosis: An integrative empirical study. Ultra-high risk for psychosis patients, first episode psychosis patients, and healthy... | 2019 | Cross-sectional | n = 123 |
| Spontaneous Spiritual Awakenings: Phenomenology, Altered States, Individual Differences, and Well-Being People reporting their most powerful Spontaneous Spiritual or Kundalini Awakening | 2021 | Mixed within and between-participants self-report survey design | n = 152 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- Varieties of felt presence? Three surveys of presence phenomena and their relations to psychopathology. Psychological Medicine June 1, 2023
- They have taken out my spinal cord: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of self-boundary in psychotic experience within a sociocentric culture. Frontiers in Psychiatry July 20, 2023
- Varieties of felt presence: Three surveys of presence phenomena in the general population and their relations to voice-hearing. October 8, 2021
- The felt-presence experience: from cognition to the clinic. The Lancet Psychiatry May 1, 2023
- Experiences of felt presence in first episode psychosis. Schizophrenia November 26, 2025
and 1 more in the library
Cites 10
- Disturbances in body ownership in schizophrenia: evidence from the rubber hand illusion and case study of a spontaneous out-of-body experience. PLoS One June 10, 2016
- The crisis of minimal self-awareness in schizophrenia: a meta-analytic review. Schizophrenia Research 2014
- People who report religious experiences may also display enhanced temporal-lobe signs. Perceptual and Motor Skills June 1, 1984
- Disturbed Experience of Self: Psychometric Analysis of the Self-Experience Lifetime Frequency Scale (SELF). Psychopathology March 19, 2016
- Basic self-disturbance predicts psychosis onset in the ultra high risk for psychosis "prodromal" population. Schizophrenia Bulletin February 20, 2012
and 5 more in the library