Representations of the Body's Interior in Adolescence (RICA)

Exploratory Study of the Representations of the Inside of the Body of Adolescents With and Without Borderline Personality Disorder, Assessed Through a Drawing of the Inside of the Body, Interviews and Questionnaires.

Representations of the inner body in adolescence: developmental characteristics and specificities in borderline personality disorders.

Study Overview

• Status: Withdrawn
• Conditions: Borderline Personality Disorder; Body Representation; Adolescent - Emotional Problem; Personality Disorders in Adolescence
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Drawing of the inside of the body, interviews and questionnaires.

Detailed Description

The aim of this exploratory study is to describe the representations of the inside of the body of adolescents with borderline personality disorder, and adolescent without borderline personality disorder.

During an interview with a psychomotor specialist, participants will undergo tests, questionnaires and Internal body drawing test

• Study Type: Interventional
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Non-clinical cohort :

  1. Adolescents aged 15 to 19
  2. High school students (seconde to terminale)
  3. Having signed a consent form to participate in the research, as well as their legal representative
  4. Affiliated to a social security regime

• Clinical cohort :

  1. Adolescents aged 15 to 19
  2. With a high school level (3rd year completed, transition to second year pronounced), whether enrolled or not.
  3. Having signed a consent form to participate in the research and their legal representative.
  4. Currently under psychiatric or pediatric care for psychiatric reasons.
  5. Diagnosed or suspected of having a borderline personality disorder,
  6. Affiliated to a social security regime

Exclusion Criteria:

Non-clinical cohort

1. Serious somatic pathology under treatment (e.g. cancer; recent or planned operations...)
2. Recognized sensory or neurological disability.
3. Known, diagnosed psychiatric pathologies (TCA, schizophrenia, etc.).
4. Refusal to participate by adolescent or parental guardians.

Clinical cohort :

1. Serious somatic pathology under treatment (e.g. cancer, recent or planned operations, etc.)
2. Recognized sensory or neurological disability.
3. Refusal to participate by adolescent or parental guardians.
4. Psychomotor assessment or follow-up by the researcher.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: Clinical cohort; Adolescents with borderline personality disorder	Behavioral: Drawing of the inside of the body, interviews and questionnaires.; Use of various validated and non-validated tools to identify certain common characteristics, as well as more specific weaknesses, in the representations of the inside of the body of adolescents with no pathology, and adolescents with borderline personality disorder.
Other: Non-clinical cohort; Adolescent without borderline personality disorder	Behavioral: Drawing of the inside of the body, interviews and questionnaires.; Use of various validated and non-validated tools to identify certain common characteristics, as well as more specific weaknesses, in the representations of the inside of the body of adolescents with no pathology, and adolescents with borderline personality disorder.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Type of organs represented	Type of organs represented on drawing of body' s interior	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Type of systems represented	Type of systems represented on drawing of body' s interior	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Number of organs represented	Completeness of drawing of the inside of the body	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Number of systems represented	Completeness of drawing of the inside of the body + captions	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Level of drawing elaboration	Qualitative analyse of the drawing evaluated (complete and functional systems) - Minimum value: 0 (no elaboration / very simple drawing, incomplete or non-functional systems) Maximum value: 3 (high elaboration / detailed drawing with complete and functional systems) Interpretation: higher scores indicate a better outcome (higher level of drawing elaboration).	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Symbolic elements added to drawing	Describe "non-anatomical" themes added to the drawing	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Type of anatomical errors in the drawing	Describe anatomical errors in the drawing	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Scores obtained from questionnaires: Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness):Interoceptive awareness,	Demonstrate alterations in various dimensions in borderline adolescents	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Scores obtained from questionnaires: Postural Awareness Scale_Proprioceptive awareness,	Demonstrate alterations in various dimensions in borderline adolescents	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Scores obtained from questionnaires: Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20)_Emotional awareness (degree of alexithymia)	Demonstrate alterations in various dimensions in borderline adolescents	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Scores obtained from questionnaires: Body Image Questionnaire_Body satisfaction	Demonstrate alterations in various dimensions in borderline adolescents	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Frequency of responses to questions about drawing the inside of the body	Gather participants' opinions on the proposed inner-body drawing test	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Type of symbolic representations emerging through the interview	Evaluate symbolic representations of the body through language.	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Frequency of responses to additional questions about the body's interior	Evaluate participants' level of preoccupation with and experience of the inner body.	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment
Questionnaire scores by age	To explore differences attributable to the developmental aspect of representations of the body's interior: 30 control high school students (RICA)/200 young adult students and adult students over 25 (results obtained in a preliminary study).	From enrollment to 2 months after enrollment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal Creteil

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): February 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 26, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 10, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): February 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 12, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 10, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Personality Disorders; Borderline Personality Disorder; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Investigative Techniques; Epidemiologic Methods; Data Collection; Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms; Quality of Health Care; Public Health; Environment and Public Health; Interviews as Topic; Surveys and Questionnaires
• Other Study ID Numbers: RICA

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No