Health Psychology Research / HPR / Volume 12 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.52965/​001c.117649
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Body dysmorphic disorder and psychotherapeutic interventions: a   systematic literature review.  

Pasquale Caponnetto1,2 Manila Caramazza1 Grazia Caci3 Maria S. Signorelli4 Antonino Petralia4 Maria C. Quattropani1,2
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1 Department of Educational Sciences, Section of Psychology, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
2 Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR), University of Catania, 95121 Catania, Italy
3 Department of General Surgery and Medical-Surgical Specialities, University of Catania, Catania.Infectious Disease Department at University Hospital AOU Policlinico “G. Rodolico- San Marco” of Catania, Italy
4 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Submitted: 4 May 2024 | Accepted: 9 May 2024 | Published: 11 June 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). Licensee Health Psychology Research, USA. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

Introduction

Body dysmorphism disorder (BDD) is a disabling mental disorder characterized by an anxious preoccupation with a perceived defect in physical appearance.

Objective

This systematic review arose with the main objective of identifying the most effective psychotherapeutic intervention in the treatment of BDD.

Methods

From February to October 2022, we conducted a systematic review aimed at identifying the psychotherapeutic intervention for BDD, the search for these concepts was on PubMed. There were no language limitations, only time limitations, we delved into studies published in the databases between 2015 and 2022.

Results

We identified a total of 393 unique records. Of these, 43 full-text articles were evaluated for eligibility, and seven of these met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final systematic review.

Conclusions

Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been shown to be effective compared with other therapies, especially when combined with drug therapy.
The results confirm that BDD-NET (INTERNET-based CBT) led to significant improvement of symptoms in patients with body dysmorphism.
In conclusion, we can say that cognitive-behavioral therapy, whether in direct or online form, appears to be the most effective treatment for this disorder.

Keywords
body dysmorphic disorder
cognitive-behavioral therapy
BDD-NET
psychotherapeutic interventions
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Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Health Psychology Research, Electronic ISSN: 2420-8124 Published by Health Psychology Research