Body Image Self‐evaluation Colouring Lens: comparing the ornamental and instrumental views of adolescent girls with eating disorders

A new visual measure of body image, the Body Image Self‐evaluation Colouring Lens (BISCL), was used to examine how 22 girls with diagnosed eating disorders evaluated their bodies. Results revealed that the percent of negative body evaluation was significantly higher when girls evaluated their body form as compared to their body function. Girls expressed new insights when comparing their relatively positive evaluation of their body functioning to their generally negative view of their body appearance. They expressed dissatisfaction with body parts that did not conform to their current cultural ideals. The BISCL was correlated in a predictable manner with standardized measures of body dissatisfaction. The promising applications of the BISCL as a clinical and research tool are discussed.