Body Image最新文献

There has been considerable recent interest in and reference to body neutrality, despite limited scholarship on differences from existing constructs. Our study examined perceptions of body neutrality in 229 individuals (researchers, clinicians, eating disorder lived experience, general community). Questions explored definitions of body neutrality, its similarity and differences to other concepts, perceived benefits and risks of adopting a body neutrality approach, and ratings on the usefulness of proposed components. Participants defined body neutrality as adopting an accepting, non-judgemental approach to one’s body, de-emphasising the importance of appearance, and viewing the body as a vessel that carries a person through life. Perceived benefits included it being more accessible than existing approaches and a useful coping strategy, while risks were that neutrality can be difficult to adopt in an appearance focused society and that it may prompt an apathetic response to self-care. Body neutrality was rated as conceptually similar to functionality appreciation, body acceptance, and body compassion, and definitions consistent with these terms were rated most favourably. Our findings show how body neutrality is perceived and used by experts and the general community. However, we question whether this conceptualisation is distinct from existing positive body image concepts.

Writing tasks that encourage an appreciation of body functionality can improve women’s body image and may buffer against negative effects of idealised media exposure. However, no research has examined whether these tasks can serve as a coping strategy after idealised exposure. To this end, young adult women (N = 217, M_age = 21.63) recruited from an Australian university and general community completed a writing task after idealised media exposure, with state body image measures taken at baseline, post-exposure, and post-task. Women were randomly allocated to one of three writing tasks and asked to appreciate their body functionality, to focus on the previously viewed images (rumination), or to describe a frequently travelled route (distraction). Improvements on outcome measures were equally found across both the functionality and distraction condition. Only body appreciation uniquely improved in the functionality condition. The functionality task was rated more helpful but also more challenging. These findings add to the evidence base regarding the usefulness of functionality-based writing tasks for improving women’s body image. They can offer immediate benefits when experiencing body image distress, as can distraction, and future research should explore their utility in driving more sustained and deeper ways of engaging with one’s body long-term.

Mobile Dating Applications (MDAs) are integral to young adults’ lives, serving as a platform for romantic and sexual self-presentation during the search for potential partners. Despite its potential link to adverse outcomes including body shame, the prevalence of sexualized self-presentation remains understudied. This pre-registered linkage study addresses this gap by documenting sexualized self-presentation while considering individual differences related to gender, sexual orientation, and body image. Young adults donated MDA (Tinder, Bumble) profile screenshots (n_biographies = 443, n_pictures = 1277; M_age = 23.15, SD = 2.94; 72.20 % women). Of those 443 participants, 237 additionally completed a body image linkage survey (M_age = 23.36, SD = 2.90; 71.30 % women). Sexualized self-presentation appeared in 4.30 % of biographies and 56.80 % of profile pictures, mainly through sexualized facial expressions. Women, non-heterosexual users, and those holding a more negative body image engaged more in sexualized self-presentation. Platform type and positive body image indicators did not relate to engagement in sexualized self-presentation. Future research is recommended to explore whether the extensive presence of sexualized self-presentations on MDAs impacts users’ personal and relational well-being.

Interpersonal distance (IPD) refers to the distance naturally maintained during social interactions, while peripersonal space (PPS) refers to the immediate space surrounding the body, or the space within reaching distance. Previous research has preliminarily indicated that IPD is associated with body image disturbances. We sought to expand extant literature by exploring associations between aspects of positive and negative body image, IPD, and PPS. Seventy-five women from the United Kingdom aged 18–40 years completed measures of body appreciation, body image flexibility, body shame, body surveillance, and body dissatisfaction. IPD boundaries were estimated using a lab-based comfort-distance task, whereas PPS boundaries were estimated using an audio-tactile reaction-time task. Measures of body acceptance by others and fear of negative evaluation were completed as potential mediators. Overall, we identified positive associations between IPD, body surveillance, and fear of negative evaluation, with no statistically significant associations identified between the other indices. The association between active IPD and body surveillance was mediated by fear of negative evaluation, even after controlling for demographic factors. These findings suggest a nuanced relationship between IPD and body image-related factors, highlighting the role of social evaluation anxiety. Future investigations should use experimental designs to further understand these relationships and their implications.

Rumination regarding appearance is a major cause of body dissatisfaction among adolescents. Body ‎image concerns in this age group may lead to ‎considerable psychological distress. Studies suggest that adaptive emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal and self-compassion can counteract the harmful consequences of rumination. The goal of the current study was to assess if and to what extent cognitive reappraisal and self-compassion can improve female adolescents’ body satisfaction and appreciation after engaging in appearance-related rumination. ‎Using an experimental design, 142 healthy female adolescents underwent an appearance-related rumination induction. ‎Following this, participants were randomly allocated to one of three experimental conditions requiring to implement either self-compassion, cognitive reappraisal, or rumination using a writing task. State body dissatisfaction ‎and appreciation were assessed at baseline, post-appearance rumination, and post-‎writing tasks. Appearance-related rumination increased state body dissatisfaction and reduced body appreciation in all groups. Importantly, state body dissatisfaction and appreciation fully restored to their baseline levels after implementing self-compassion and cognitive reappraisal, but not rumination. The findings provide empirical evidence regarding the negative consequences of appearance-related rumination among adolescents and demonstrate how adaptive emotion regulation strategies can assist in coping efficiently with appearance-related rumination.

The rapidly growing body of research investigating media influence on body image in Latin America has not been previously comprehensively synthesised. We systematically reviewed studies of the relationships between media use/influence, body image, and sociocultural appearance ideals in Latin America (CRD42021254607). We searched PsycINFO/Medline, Pubmed, Web of Science, ERIC, Scopus, ProQuest Dissertations, SciElo, and LILACS for quantitative and qualitative peer-reviewed articles and doctoral theses in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Research conducted in Latin America, published 1991–2023, measuring a) media use/influence, and b) body image or appearance ideals was included. 68 articles met inclusion criteria, and quality appraisal concluded that most were of medium/high quality. A narrative review found consistent quantitative relationships, stronger in women than men, between media use/internalisation of media ideals and both body dissatisfaction and thinner appearance ideals. In contrast, participants in qualitative studies acknowledged media influence on their body image, but perceived greater influence from family and peers. Limitations included a predominance of cross-sectional research from Brazil and Mexico with adolescents and young adults. Additional longitudinal, experimental, and interventional work from elsewhere in Latin America is needed, recruiting more diverse samples and assessing more culturally salient appearance aspects (e.g., skin tone and hair texture).

This longitudinal study examined the prospective associations between body appreciation and wellbeing (i.e., self-esteem, depression, and emotional wellbeing) as well as body image flexibility and wellbeing among 490 women between 18–35 years of age (M = 28.63; SD = 4.27) residing in the United States. Women were contacted in three waves, each two months apart, and completed measures relating to each construct online. As a prerequisite of longitudinal analyses, this study found evidence of configural, metric, scalar, and strict invariance over time for each relevant measure. Cross-lagged panel modeling evidenced bidirectional associations between body appreciation and self-esteem between all waves and unidirectional associations between body appreciation and subsequent depression (negative) and body appreciation and subsequent emotional wellbeing (positive). Results showed bidirectional associations between body image flexibility, self-esteem, depression, and emotional wellbeing, although these bidirectional associations never occurred during the same interval between waves. This study evidences that higher body appreciation and body image flexibility are prospectively associated with increases in self-esteem, emotional wellbeing and decreases in depression, and also shows scenarios where the inverse associations also hold true. We also describe how this study complements existing cross-sectional research and the need to examine associations among more diverse participant groups.

Broaching issues of identity and power with clients in the context of their mental health care is affirmed as an effective multicultural and social justice counseling skill by a growing evidence base. Considerations for broaching body size, including size difference and sizeism, with clients has not yet been studied, thus clinicians lack guidelines for facilitating these conversations. In this consensual qualitative research study, we present themes involved in broaching body topics based on our interviews with nine clinicians specialized in treating clients with eating disorders and body-related counseling concerns. Themes addressed counselor development, conceptualization of broaching, clinical-decision-making, practice, and impact of broaching body topics in session. Clinicians identified professional and personal developments they pursued and would advocate for training future clinicians to better serve clients. Descriptions of unique and shared aspects of broaching clients’ intersectionality and body-size specifically depict avenues for tailoring broaching conversations. Specific examples of effective and ineffective broaching conversations, including language used and psychoeducational components, provide recommendations for practice and connect to observed impacts on the client, counselor, and counseling process.

Online apparel retail imagery is a prominent threat to women’s body image, particularly segments such as activewear which emphasize the value of women’s bodies. In a within-subjects experiment, we exposed women (N = 128) to imagery randomly selected from activewear, casualwear and homewares websites and measured their gaze behavior, physiological arousal, as well as subjective emotional states and body image ratings. Exposure to activewear retail imagery elicited significantly lower body image ratings, a higher negative emotional state, and a lower positive emotional state compared to the other website imagery conditions. Physiological arousal was significantly higher for both apparel imagery conditions compared to the homewares imagery condition. Body biased gaze behavior was significantly higher for the activewear imagery condition compared to the casualwear imagery condition. Notably, body shame moderated the self-reported but not the physiological experimental effects, such that women with higher body shame experienced stronger adverse changes in their body image and emotional state ratings following activewear exposure. Correlations revealed that self-reported experimental responses to activewear imagery were strongly associated with self-objectification, appearance comparison, disordered eating and body image coping attitudes. Thus, exposure to popular apparel may play a role in maintaining maladaptive body image attitudes and behaviors in women.

Body positive social media content, and especially content that does not contain photos of bodies, has been shown to be helpful for body image compared to idealized social media content. However, body positive content is heterogenous and little is known regarding which types of content may be most helpful. This study examined self-reported body image and mood effects of different types of body positive content among women. A sample of 176 women, mean (SD) age = 21.77 (2.35) was recruited. Participants viewed body positive stimuli that were grouped into 14 different categories to represent the heterogenous nature of this social media content, including a text only category. Each image was rated in terms of its perceived effect on body image and mood. Findings suggested that the text-only category was rated most highly in terms of generating positive feelings towards the body and positive affect. Moreover, the comparative benefit of the text-only category was larger among women with higher BMI, and participants reporting closer proximity to the images, although not consistently across outcomes. Further work focused on understanding the effects of different types of body positive content is warranted.