Pro-anorexia content, or content that promotes the development and sustainment of eating disorders, is an important topic that has been understudied in the literature. Previous research has primary examined the content featured on pro-anorexia websites, but few researchers have conducted experimental studies examining the direct impact viewing pro-anorexia content has on individuals struggling with an eating disorder. The current study was an experimental study that exposed participants to three conditions: proanorexia content, pro-recovery content, and a control group. The researcher examined the impact that viewing the three levels of content for 10 minutes had on individuals who met criteria and who did not meet criteria for an eating disorder on the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale. Participants were examined using the Eating Attitudes Test to examine eating disorder symptomology and the Body Assessment Scale to examine body satisfaction after every condition. The results of this study showed that participants who met criteria for an eating disorder reported increased eating disorder symptomology after viewing the pro-anorexia condition.

Repeated exposure to media images that portray women as sex objects can have negative long-term effects on self-esteem beginning in preadolescence. Negative effects include decreased feelings of competence, increased focus on appearance, increased body dissatisfaction, and limited achievement in domains not related to appearance. There is a gap in the literature examining if media literacy training can mitigate the negative effects of exposure to sexualized media content. Festinger's social comparison theory and Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development provided the framework for this study. A quasi-experimental pre-post-test design was used to examine the interaction of media literacy training and time of measurement, on self-esteem and body-satisfaction in preadolescent girls. Archival data from 73 5th grade girls were obtained from a media literacy group with the addition of data from 14 5th grade girls collected to form a non-media literacy comparison group to control for confounding variables and bias. Two separate 2-way, mixed-model, factorial ANOVAs were conducted. The analyses failed to show a significant interaction between literacy group and time of measurement on self-esteem and/or body-satisfaction. However, the potential effectiveness of media literacy skills in neutralizing the negative impact of sexualized media imagery on preadolescent girls' self-esteem and body-satisfaction was observed in the between-group analyses. Positive social change may occur when society continues to identify and incorporate positive self-esteem influences and media literacy skills into the lives of preadolescent girls as to mitigate negative long-term effects of media sexualization.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD; Crohn’s disease & ulcerative colitis) is a chronic illness in which medication and dietary adherence may determine disease natural history and severity of symptoms. We hypothesized that age, prospective memory (PM) and body satisfaction would predict medication and dietary adherence in adolescents with IBD and that gender and age would modify the relation between body satisfaction and adherence, with older girls being less adherent than younger children. Fifty-seven participants aged 10-21 (M = 16.5, SD = 2.3) with IBD and their caregivers were recruited. Informed consent, demographics and body satisfaction questionnaires were completed. PM was assessed using a naturalistic task. Adherence was measured by the 1-week completion of a medication and dietary log. A questionnaire was administered to evaluate coping strategies used for overcoming obstacles to dietary adherence. Two hierarchical regressions were conducted for medication and diet adherence respectively. As hypothesized, age had a significant effect (â = -.42, p < .01) on dietary adherence, accounting for approximately 17% of the variance (R2change = .17; Fchange (1,41) = 8.57, p = .006), with younger children being more adherent. Body satisfaction had a greater and more significant effect on dietary adherence than age (â = -.33, p < .01); i.e. participants more satisfied with their body reported better dietary adherence (R2change = .28; Fchange (2,35) = 6.97, p < .05). Findings remained consistent across multiple measures of body satisfaction and dietary adherence. None of the predictors had a significant effect on medication adherence. Health care providers who treat adolescents with IBD and parents should be made aware of factors affecting adherence in order to improve disease outcomes and patients’ quality of life.

Previous research has shown that chronic exercise positively impacts body image in women. Research defining the modality that yields the best results following an acute session of exercise has yet to be determined. This research attempted to show the psychological benefits that exercise could have on female body image after only one bout of exercise. PURPOSE: The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of three different modalities of acute exercise on state body image in women. This study aimed to determine which modality, if any, is more effective in increasing state body image. METHODS: Twenty-five female participants (20.2 ± 2.2 years; 23.6 ± 4.0 BMI, 25.5 ± 6.0 body fat percent) attended laboratory sessions on six different occasions; the initial informed consent, risk stratification, and descriptive data session, the familiarization session, the three exercise sessions, and the control session. During the familiarization session, each participant was acquainted with each exercise modality. The aerobic (AE) session consisted of a five-minute warm-up, 30 minutes of treadmill exercise, and a five-minute cool-down. The interval circuit (IC) session involved a five-minute warm-up, two circuits containing five bodyweight exercises each, and five minutes of cool-down stretching. The resistance (RE) session included a five-minute warm-up, three sets of eight repetitions of the bench press, bent-over row, overhead press, squat, deadlift, and lunge exercises, and five-minutes of cool-down stretching. The control session included 40 minutes of quiet reading. Ratings of perceived exertion and heart rate were monitored and recorded during each trial. State body image, positive mood, and negative mood were measured immediately before and after each experimental session. RESULTS: Following the AE and RE sessions, state body image significantly improved from pre- to post-session (AE: 5.2 ± 1.2 to 5.7 ± 1.0; RE: 5.4 ± 1.4 to 5.9 ± 1.2; p < 0.05). Only the RE post-session state body image (5.4 ± 1.4) was significantly different from the CO post-session state body image (5.4 ± 1.1; p < 0.05). The AE and RE sessions significantly increased positive mood and decreased negative mood from pre- to post-session (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Participation in the aerobic and resistance sessions significantly improved body image from pre- to post-exercise. Resistance exercise was the only research modality that yielded significantly higher post-exercise state body image as compared to the control session. Thus, a single resistance exercise session may help individuals to improve their state body image.

There are potentially negative health impacts of women's internalization of representations of women of color in mainstream on body esteem and weight. This study explores the relationships between mainstream hip hop, body satisfaction and body mass index (BMI) in Mexican descent college-age women. The study predicts that women who regularly listen to mainstream hip hop will be more likely to internalize the images of women. Internalization will predict body satisfaction and body satisfaction will predict BMI. Sixty-five participants completed a self-report survey with these measures. Regularly listening to mainstream hip hop was associated with higher hip hop internalization. Higher internalization was associated with less body satisfaction which, in turn, was associated with a higher BMI. Thus, women who regularly listen to mainstream hip hop and who internalize the images of women seem more critical of their body, which negatively affects their weight.

Given the centrality of body dissatisfaction in the manifestation of health risk behaviors (e.g., eating disorders, muscle dysmorphia) and psychological distress in men, the ability to measure it accurately is essential. Across two studies, the psychometric properties and factor structure of a new measure of male body satisfaction were established. The Body Parts Satisfaction Scale for Men (BPSS-M) was found to have three scores: full body muscularity and leanness (18 items), upper body (12 items), and legs (4 items). All three scores were internally and temporally reliable, and support was found for the convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity of the scores. The BPSS-M represents an advance in the measurement of male body image, providing researchers and clinicians with a versatile and valid way to assess this important construct.

abstract: The promulgation of the thin-ideal is associated with bulimia, dieting, supplement use, negative affect, and body dissatisfaction. “Fitspiration” was created as an “antidote” to the thin-ideal through the promotion of healthy eating and exercise; however, research indicates Fitspiration continues to promote the thin-ideal with similarly detrimental outcomes. Recently, research has shifted from a focus on body disturbance to concepts of positive body image (Halliwell, 2015), often researched through the concept of body appreciation. While the research is limited, a few studies have shown increases in body appreciation and mood after viewing body positive images. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to experimentally examine the impact of exposure to body positive and Fitspiration Instagram images on the body satisfaction, body appreciation, and mood of undergraduate women. Participants were 98 female undergraduate students (18-29 years old) currently attending Arizona State University. Participants were randomly assigned to view Fitspiration, Body Positive, or appearance neutral Instagram images. Dependent variables of state body appreciation, state body dissatisfaction, and state mood were measured using Visual Analogue Scales. Trait thin-ideal internalization, trait social comparison, and body mass index (BMI) were included as covariates. Qualitative short-answer questions were included as an exploratory aim. A one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to examine group differences in post-test scores followed by post-hoc analyses using the Bonferroni correction when significant. After controlling for baseline score, trait thin-ideal internalization, trait social comparison, and BMI, post-test body appreciation scores within Fitspiration condition were significantly lower than the control (MD= 9.818, SE=3.743, p=.031) and Body Positive condition (MD=9.372, SE=3.492, p=0.26). After controlling for baseline score, trait thin-ideal internalization, trait social comparison, and BMI, the Body Positive condition demonstrated significantly higher post-test body satisfaction scores than the control (MD= 11.134, SE=3.093, p=.002) and Fitspiration condition (MD=17.312, SE=3.092, p=<.001). After controlling for baseline scores, mean post-test positive mood scores within the Fitspiration group were significantly lower than the Body Positive condition (MD=-0.378, SE=.135, p=.019). There were no differences in post-test negative mood across conditions. Findings suggest short-term exposure to body positive images may improve body appreciation, Body Positivity, and positive mood among undergraduate females. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Exercise and Wellness 2020

Syftet med den aktuella studien var att undersöka kvinnliga tränings- och tävlingsaktiva crossfit-atleters upplevelser, tankar och känslor till kroppsuppfattning och kroppsideal relaterat till sporten och tävling. I studien användes en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Deltagarna i studien var åtta kvinnliga tävlingsaktiva crossfit- atleter från Sverige i åldrarna 21-46 år (M=31.5, SD=8.76). Intervjuerna varade mellan 45-60 minuter och analyserades utifrån Braun et al. (2016) tematiska analys där huvudteman och underteman togs fram. I resultatet framkom det att deltagarna främst upplevde positiva tankar och känslor till sin egen kropp vilket kan bidra till en positiv kroppsuppfattning. Deltagarna i den aktuella studien ansåg den idrottsliga prestationen viktigare än att sträva efter ett visst utseendeideal. Vidare framkom det i resultatet att negativa känslor och tankar kunde uppstå gällande utseendeideal som framställs enligt samhällsnormer, där bland annat sociala medier upplevdes påverka atleterna negativt.  Resultatet kan vara intressant för coacher inom Crossfit, boxägare, andra utövare samt forskare för att öka kompetensen för kroppsideal och kroppsuppfattning inom träningskulturen som Crossfit ingår i. / The aim of the study was to investigate competitively active female Crossfit athletes and their experience, thoughts and feelings towards body image and body ideals related to the sport and competition. In the study, a qualitative research methodology with semi-structured interviews was used. The participants in the study were eight competitively active female Crossfit athletes from Sweden in the ages 21-46 years (M=31.5, SD=8.76). The interviews lasted between 45-60 minutes and were analysed based on Braun et al. (2016) thematic analysis, where main themes and sub-themes were created. The result showed that the participants mainly experienced positive thoughts and feelings about their own body which can contribute to a positive body image. The participants in the current study considered athletic performance as more important than striving to a specific ideal. Furthermore the result showed that negative thoughts and feelings could appear regarding body ideals that are being represented in the society, where social media, which was pointed out, could have a negative effect on the participants.  By increasing the competence regarding body image and body ideals in the Crossfit training culture, the result can be interesting for Crossfit coaches, owners of the boxes, other practitioners and researchers.

Body objectification theories propose that humans have an innate desire to compare themselves with others. When self-objectification is influenced by media exposure to idealized body images, results may be unrealistic self-perceptions and increased risk of depression, eating pathology, and overexercising. Although considerable work has been done to study these processes among women, much less is known about effects of media exposure on adult men. In response to this gap, this quantitative research study examined effects of exposure to an idealized man's body image on men observers' body dissatisfaction and related behaviors. A convenience sample of 119 freshman and sophomore community college men ranging in ages 18 to 29 was assigned to 1 of 2 conditions where they were exposed to images of male models with idealized bodies or to a neutral landscape image (independent variable). They completed questions to assess their body dissatisfaction, drive for muscularity, disordered eating, and depression. BMI and workout frequency also were assessed as covariates. It was predicted that body dissatisfaction, drive for muscularity, disordered eating, and depression scores would be higher for the group exposed to the idealized body images, as compared with neutral images. The research hypotheses were tested using ANCOVA analyses. No statistically significant between-group differences were found for any of the dependent variables. Design limitations and suggestions for further research are discussed. This study has social significance as it helps to keep the focus of researchers and mental health providers on media exposure as a risk factor among males for negative body image and related behaviors.

This research project examined the longitudinal course of body dissatisfaction among undergraduate females at Brigham Young University (BYU) using the Body Satisfaction Questionnaire (BSQ).The research also examined what percentage of undergraduate females have BSQ ratings in the clinically significant range and whether body dissatisfaction ratings varied based on the environment in which the student lived. Results indicate that no significant change in body dissatisfaction occurred over time, nor did living environment appear to play a role in BSQ scores. Results also showed that at any given time over 34% of women on BYU campus have BSQ scores in the clinically significant range.