Thirty‐Three Cases of Body Dysmorphic Disorder in Children and Adolescents

Clinical features of body dysmorphic disorder in adolescents and adults

“…Characteristics of adolescents in this study are very similar to those in the only previous study of adolescents with BDD (Albertini and Phillips, 1999). Similarities include body areas of concern, BDD behaviors, distress levels, functional impairment, most comorbidity, and medical and surgical treatment received.…”

“…Inclusion/exclusion criteria were very broad, and participants were obtained from diverse sources. Unlike the previous study (Albertini and Phillips, 1999), nearly half of adolescents in the present study were not currently seeking or receiving mental health treatment, and a higher proportion were minority group members. (The adolescents in the present report are a different sample from those in previous reports focusing on adolescents with BDD.)…”

“…Demographic characteristics and clinical features (e.g., body areas of concern, behaviors, functional impairment, and treatment history) were obtained with the BDD Form, a semistructured instrument (Phillips, unpublished) used in previous adolescent and adult studies (Phillips et al, 1993;Phillips and Diaz, 1997;Albertini and Phillips, 1999). Current BDD severity was assessed with the semi-structured Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Modified for BDD (BDD-YBOCS); scores range from 0 to 48.…”

“…The largest study (n =293) reported a mean age at onset of 16.0 ± 6.9 (range 4-43), with a mode of 13 (Gunstad and Phillips, 2003). However, to our knowledge, published reports on BDD's clinical features in adolescents consist only of case reports and one case series of 33 children and adolescents with BDD (Sondheimer, 1988;El-Khatib and Dickey, 1995;Phillips et al, 1995;Albertini et al, 1996;Heimann, 1997;Albertini and Phillips, 1999;Sobanski and Schmidt, 2000;Horowitz et al, 2002). These reports underscore the severe distress and functional impairment that BDD often causes in this age group.…”

“…These reports underscore the severe distress and functional impairment that BDD often causes in this age group. In the study of 33 children and adolescents, for example, 72% reported that their BDD symptoms caused severe or extreme and disabling distress, and 21% had attempted suicide (Albertini and Phillips, 1999). Ninetyfour percent had experienced significant impairment in social functioning, and 85% in academic or work functioning, due to BDD.…”