Testing the longitudinal relationship between muscle dysmorphia symptoms and suicidality: A network analysis investigation

Research on suicidality in muscle dysmorphia is limited despite the high rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in related disorders. This study employed network analysis to examine the longitudinal relationships between muscle dysmorphia symptoms, as well as the relations between MD symptoms and suicide risk factors. Fifty individuals (M_age = 30.6 years, 63 % male) meeting criteria for muscle dysmorphia received four daily surveys for three weeks. Multi-level vector autoregression analysis was used to estimate associations between muscle dysmorphia- and suicide-related thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The most central nodes in the muscle dysmorphia networks related to assessing muscle size, dieting, using muscle-building supplements, experiencing body dissatisfaction, seeking reassurance, and avoiding others due to concerns about appearance. In the comorbidity networks, the most central suicide-related factors were feelings of burdensomeness, feeling disgusted, and dwelling on the past. Our findings indicated that various intrusive thoughts (body dissatisfaction, dieting), compulsions (seeking reassurance, body checking, supplement use), and beliefs (burden to others, disgust with oneself) predicted future engagement in muscle dysmorphia and suicide-related symptomology. Targeting intrusive thoughts and compulsions, as well as feelings of disgust and burdensomeness, may reduce the severity of these conditions.