Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reimagining My Body, Center For Public Service

SURGE

I stood there, shoulders slouched, elbows locked, hands glued to the side of the toilet. My body convulsing, I told myself, “this is the last time, just one more time and you’ll get back on track tomorrow.” It wasn’t the last time. I had been forcing myself to purge for months at this point, and each time I hated myself for it.

It was something I couldn’t control. It wasn’t out of a need for attention as so commonly thought, but a pure need to be the unreachable level of thin that I thought would make me beautiful. I was …

The Relationship Of Sex And Sexual Orientation To Self-Esteem, Body Shape Satisfaction, And Eating Disorder Symptomatology, Chetra Yaan, Erik M. Benau, Antonios Dakanalis, Julia M. Hormes, Julie Perone, C. Alix Timko

Counseling & Psychological Services

No abstract provided.

Body Esteem, Peer Difficulties, And Perceptions Of Physical Health In Overweight And Obese Urban Children Ages 5 To 7 Years, Natalie A. Williams, Jennifer Fournier, Mace Coday, Phyllis A. Richey, Frances A. Tylavsky, Marion E. Hare

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective—To determine whether there is an association between body mass index (BMI) and body esteem in young overweight and obese urban children, and to test peer relationship difficulties and perceived physical health as mediators of this relationship.

Methods—Child self-reported body esteem, and parent-reported child peer relationship difficulties (being bullied by peers and peer rejection) and physical health perceptions were obtained from 218 overweight and obese children ages 5–7 years (81% racial/ethnic minority, M BMI = 25.3) and their primary caregivers.

Results—Higher BMI was associated with lower body esteem for both girls and boys. This relation was mediated …

The Role Of Body Surveillance, Body Shame, And Body Self-Consciousness During Sexual Activities In Women's Sexual Experience, Kimberly Claudat

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Objectification theory is a social constructivist framework that aims to explain how sociocultural and intrapersonal variables impact women's mental health. To date, however, few studies have used an objectification framework to examine the relationship between body image and sexual functioning in ethnically diverse samples of women. Consequently, the present study used the tenets of objectification theory to examine body image and sexuality in women. Specifically, this study investigated the relationships between body surveillance, body shame, body self-consciousness during sexual activities, and sexual satisfaction in American female college students. Participants completed self-report measures of demographic information, body shame, body surveillance, body …

The Role Of Social Physique Anxiety And Social Appearance Anxiety In The Body Checking Behaviors Of Male And Female College Students, Emily Katherine White

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Body checking is defined as behavior aimed at monitoring changes in one's weight or shape, such as measuring or pinching certain body parts, repeatedly checking one's shape in the mirror, trying on clothes to gauge fit, feeling for protruding bones, or frequently weighing one's self. Theoretically, body checking may be the behavioral manifestation of a core feature of eating disorders: overevaluation of body weight and shape. Although the nature and correlates of body checking in female and male college students without eating disorders are understudied, one recent study by Haase and colleagues (2007) found that social physique anxiety mediated the …

Visual Attention Bias And Body Dissatisfaction In Eating Disorders, Janet Lydecker

Theses and Dissertations

Eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa, have profound negative effects on the quality of life of both affected individuals and their families. Behavioral approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) are commonly used for the treatment of these disorders. CBT teaches skills to restructure maladaptive thought patterns as a method of altering feelings and behaviors. However, even after CBT, 50-70% of women with bulimia and 67-87% of women with anorexia report continued eating disordered thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Measuring underlying cognitive processes such as orienting, maintaining, and executive attention in individuals with eating disorder symptomatology might be an important …

Constructing Body Image In University Women: The Relationship Between Self-Esteem, Self-Compassion, And Intuitive Eating, Peta Stapleton, Ankita Nikalje

Peta B. Stapleton

Body image related concerns among women are well researched. However, this research has consistently focussed on identifying pathological and maladaptive correlates of body image. Body image research has been based on the assumption that a positive body image is merely an absence of or is defined by low levels of a negative body image. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between self-esteem, self-compassion and intuitive eating in conceptualising body image related avoidance behaviours. Female university students (N = 137) completed four measures online: the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Self-Compassion Scale of Neff, Intuitive Eating Scale of …

The Eden Project: A City Wide Youth Conference And Fashion Show To Increase Body Image And Self-Esteem In Adolescent Girls, Nicole R. Parsons

Honors Program Projects

This paper focuses on the development of body image and self-esteem in adolescent girls and discusses the impact both positive and negative factors can have during this developmental stage of life. It argues the idea that a girl’s positive feelings regarding her external appearance can drastically influence her self-esteem, which in turn affects how she treats herself, as well how she allows others to treat her. This paper also follows the history of fashion shows, discussing their influence in media outlets that adolescent girls often turn to when searching for an identity in this culture. Pulling from a Christian perspective, …

I’M Not Just Fat, I’M Old: Has The Study Of Body Image Talk Overlooked “Old Talk?”, Carolyn Becker, Phillippa C. Diedrichs, G. Jankowski, Chelsey Werchan

Psychology Faculty Research

Background: Research indicates that body dissatisfaction is correlated with and often predictive of both physical and mental health problems. “Fat talk,” a well-studied form of body image talk in adolescents and university-aged women, has been implicated as contributing to body dissatisfaction and mediating the relationship between body dissatisfaction and other mental health problems. Limited research, however, has investigated fat talk across the female lifespan. Further, consistent with most body image research, fat talk research solely focuses on the thin dimension of idealized female attractiveness, even though other dimensions may contribute to body dissatisfaction in women.

Method: The current study investigated …

The Effects Upward And Downward Comparison On A Subsequent Emotion Recognition Task, Kim D. Thomas

ETD Archive

Social Comparison Theory explains how viewing images can affect body satisfaction with two processes: upward and downward comparison. Upward comparison, which is defined as comparing oneself to a more attractive person, can result in depression and body dissatisfaction. Downward comparison, which is defined as comparing oneself to a less attractive person, can increase mood and body satisfaction. Previous research has shown that individuals with eating disorders, such as anorexia, have a deficit in emotion recognition due to their high levels of body dissatisfaction. Building upon this finding, the current study was designed to examine the effect that priming normal individuals …

Why Don't I Look Like Her? The Impact Of Social Media On Female Body Image, Kendyl M. Klein

CMC Senior Theses

The purpose of this paper is to understand and criticize the role of social media in the development and/or encouragement of eating disorders, disordered eating, and body dissatisfaction in college-aged women. College women are exceptionally vulnerable to the impact that social media can have on their body image as they develop an outlook on their bodies and accept the developmental changes that occurred during puberty. This paper provides evidence that there is a relationship between the recent surge in disordered eating and high consumption of social media. I examine the ways in which traditional advertising has portrayed women throughout history, …

The Efficacy Of The Girls On The Run Program To Improve Self-Worth, Body Image, And Behavioral And Emotional Functioning: A Longitudinal Study, Morgan Marie Ames

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Girls on the Run is an after-school program for girls ages 8-13 that is focused on improving physical and mental wellbeing. Previous research has demonstrated some utility in improving mental health, especially as it relates to self-esteem and body image. The current study focused on the longitudinal analysis of girls in this program to determine how long they need to be in this program to gain the most benefits in three key areas of mental wellbeing: body image satisfaction, global self-worth (a facet of self-esteem), and behavioral and emotional functioning. The results indicate that, in this sample from a small …

An Experimental Manipulation Of Body Checking And Mirror Exposure Over Time In Men And Women With High Shape Or Weight Concern, Dvora Catherine Walker

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Although body checking and avoidance behaviors are associated with a range of negative behavioral, emotional, and cognitive outcomes and have been identified as maintaining factors in body dissatisfaction and eating disorder psychopathology, they have only recently begun to be researched as an important target of treatment. Few studies have used experimental means to examine the direct effects of body checking manipulations, and those that have were conducted on one occasion. Further, research published to date has only examined potential treatments aimed at reducing body checking and avoidance behaviors in female or predominantly female samples. The present study sought to address …

Efficacy Of A Dissonance-Based Intervention For Self-Objectification: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Jessie Erin Menzel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self-objectification is the process by which women take on a third-person perspective in evaluating their physical appearance and sexual attributes. Objectification theory states that self-objectification may lead to negative mental health outcomes in women; a growing body of cross-sectional and experimental research supports the connection between self-objectification and the experience of shame, disordered eating, depression, and sexual dysfunction. This study sought to evaluate an intervention designed to reduce self-objectification behaviors and beliefs in order to prevent the development of disordered eating, depression, and sexual dysfunction. An efficacious prevention program using cognitive dissonance induction was adapted to target self-objectification. The efficacy …