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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Medicine and Health Sciences

Selected Works

Selected Works

2017

Adolescents

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

A Mobile, Avatar-Based App For Improving Body Perceptions Among Adolescents: A Pilot Test, Annmarie Lyles, Ashish Amresh, Jennifer Huberty, Michael Todd, Rebecca E. Lee Dec 2016

A Mobile, Avatar-Based App For Improving Body Perceptions Among Adolescents: A Pilot Test, Annmarie Lyles, Ashish Amresh, Jennifer Huberty, Michael Todd, Rebecca E. Lee

Ashish Amresh

BACKGROUND:
One barrier to effectively treating weight issues among adolescents is that they tend to use social comparison instead of objective measures to evaluate their own health status. When adolescents correctly perceive themselves as overweight, they are more likely to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviors.

OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this pilot test was to develop and assess acceptability and usability of an avatar-based, theoretically derived mobile app entitled Monitor Your Avatar (MYA).

METHODS:
The MYA app was engineered for high school adolescents to identify, using avatars, what they thought they looked like, what they wanted to look like, and what they …