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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Eating Behavior
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1420247

"Reduction of peripersonal comfort space correlate with eating disorder symptoms in young adolescents: a network analysis approach"

Provisionally accepted
Beatriz Pereira Da Silva Beatriz Pereira Da Silva 1Andrea Escelsior Andrea Escelsior 1,2Monica Biggio Monica Biggio 1Alessio Zizzi Alessio Zizzi 1*Martino Belvederi Murri Martino Belvederi Murri 3Riccardo Guglielmo Riccardo Guglielmo 1Alberto Inuggi Alberto Inuggi 1Federico Delfante Federico Delfante 1Giacomo Marenco Giacomo Marenco 1Mario Amore Mario Amore 1,2Gianluca Serafini Gianluca Serafini 1,2
  • 1 Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, and Mother-Child, School of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Genoa, Genova, Italy
  • 2 San Martino Hospital (IRCCS), Genova, Liguria, Italy
  • 3 University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Peripersonal Space (PS) is represented as the immediate area surrounding an individual. The extent of PS changes in relation to several factors, including emotional states, type of relationship or psychopathology. Attachment anxiety has an impact on the social adaptability of peripersonal space and anxiety and fear are associated with an expansion of peripersonal space, possibly serving as a mechanism of self-protection. Peripersonal space appears to be intricately linked to various psychiatric conditions like anxiety disorders and converging evidence suggests that social maladjustment may predict or exacerbate eating disorder symptoms expression. Methods: Fifty-eight healthy adolescents (38F, 20M) performed a comfort distance estimation task to assess peripersonal space. The Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP) was used to assess sensory profiles and the SAFA protocol to investigate psychopathological aspects. Data was analysed using Network Analysis, estimating a Gaussian Graphical Models with a Bayesian approach. Results: We found that the task related to comfort estimation distance demonstrated a correlation with the visual scale of the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP). Additionally, a correlation was observed with the Eating Disorder scale of the SAFA protocol. The touch scale also was negatively correlated with Eating disorder symptoms but not with the comfort estimation task. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate a relation between peripersonal space and eating disorder symptoms in healthy adolescents in line with previous findings in adults with eating disorders diagnosis. These findings suggest that socio-emotional difficulties may be possible precursors or reinforce for the development of an eating disorder symptoms.

    Keywords: peripersonal space, Network analysis, adolescents, Psychopathology, Eating Disorders

    Received: 19 Apr 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Pereira Da Silva, Escelsior, Biggio, Zizzi, Belvederi Murri, Guglielmo, Inuggi, Delfante, Marenco, Amore and Serafini. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alessio Zizzi, Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, and Mother-Child, School of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Genoa, Genova, Italy

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