Psychology Commons^™

From Efficacy To Global Impact: Lessons Learned About What Not To Do In Translating Our Research To Reach, Carolyn Becker

Psychology Faculty Research

Although members of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies have made significant strides towards the collective goals outlined in our mission statement, we routinely acknowledge that our ability to develop empirically supported treatments exceeds our success in improving dissemination and implementation of said interventions. Further, as noted by Kazdin and Blase (2011), even if we succeeded in having every clinician world-wide administer our best treatments with excellent competency, we still would be unsuccessful in markedly impacting the worldwide burden of mental illness because most treatments require intensive labor by expensive providers. To this end, Kazdin and Blase and others …

The Body Project 4 All: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Of A Mixed-Gender Dissonance-Based Body Image Program, Lisa S. Kilpela, K. Blomquist, Christina Verzijl, Salomé Wilfred, Robbie Beyl, Carolyn Becker

Psychology Faculty Research

Objective: The Body Project is a cognitive dissonance-based body image improvement program with ample research support among female samples. More recently, researchers have highlighted the extent of male body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors; however, boys/men have not been included in the majority of body image improvement programs. This study aims to explore the efficacy of a mixed-gender Body Project compared with the historically female-only body image intervention program.

Method: Participants included male and female college students (N = 185) across two sites. We randomly assigned women to a mixed-gender modification of the two-session, peer-led Body Project (MG), the …

Our Critics Might Have Valid Concerns: Reducing Our Propensity To Conflate, Carolyn Becker

Psychology Faculty Research

As noted by Austin elsewhere in this issue, the field of eating disorders (ED) prevention has made remarkable scientific strides in the past two decades (see Austin, 2016). Over this same period, the field also has seen improved political standing within the greater ED community. For instance, prevention researchers present more regularly at key ED conferences, increasingly via invitation “up on the big stage” in plenaries and keynote addresses. Prevention researchers and advocates also appear to have grown in number and hold more positions in a variety of ranks throughout key ED organizations. Finally, a number of prominent ED researchers …

Body Image In Adult Women: Moving Beyond The Younger Years, Lisa S. Kilpela, Carolyn Becker, Nicole Wesley, Tiffany Stewart

Psychology Faculty Research

In spite of copious literature investigating body dissatisfaction and its correlates in adolescents and young adult women, exploration of body image disturbances in adult women remains an underrepresented domain in the literature. Yet, there are many reasons to suspect that body image in adult women may both differ from and possibly be more complex than that of younger women. Adult women face myriad factors influencing body image beyond those delineated in the body image literature on adolescents and young adult women. For instance, ageing-related physiological changes shift the female body further away from the thin-young-ideal, which is the societal standard …

Eating Disorder Prevention: Current Evidence-Base And Future Directions, Eric Stice, Carolyn Becker, S. Yokum

Psychology Faculty Research

Objective

This narrative review sought to (a) characterize prevention programs that have produced reliable, reproducible, and clinically meaningful effects in efficacy trials, (b) discuss effectiveness trials that have tested whether prevention programs produce intervention effects under ecologically valid real-world conditions, (c) discuss dissemination efforts and research on dissemination, and (d) offer suggestions regarding directions for future research in this field.

Conclusion

A literature revealed that 6 prevention programs have produced significant reductions in eating disorder symptoms through at least 6-month follow-up and that 2 have significantly reduced future eating disorder onset. Effectiveness trials indicate that 2 prevention programs have produced …

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 …

Peer-Facilitated Cognitive Dissonance Versus Healthy Weight Eating Disorders Prevention: A Randomized Comparison, Carolyn Becker, Chantale Wilson, Allison Williams, Mackenzie Kelly, Leda Mcdaniel, Joanna Elmquist

Psychology Faculty Research

Research supports the efficacy of both cognitive dissonance (CD) and healthy weight (HW) eating disorders prevention, and indicates that CD can be delivered by peer-facilitators, which facilitates dissemination. This study investigated if peer-facilitators can deliver HW when it is modified for their use and extended follow-up of peer-facilitated CD as compared to previous trials. Based on pilot data, we modified HW (MHW) to facilitate peer delivery, elaborate benefits of the healthy-ideal, and place greater emphasis on consuming nutrient dense foods. Female sorority members (N=106) were randomized to either two 2-hour sessions of CD or MHW. Participants completed assessment …