appearancerelated distress How do we recognise symptoms of appearance related distress Does it relate to physical indicators eg Severity amp extent of the difference in appearance ID: 165645
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Slide1
How to recognise symptoms ofappearance-related distress Slide2
How do we recognise symptoms of appearance related distress?
Does it relate to physical indicators, e.g.
Severity & extent of the ‘difference’ in appearance?
Location/body site affected?Other
indicators …..
Face to face interaction/discussions
Observing behaviourPsychometric methodsSlide3
Severity & extent of the ‘difference’
& adjustment
Anecdotally,
the severity of a difference in appearance is associated
with poor adjustment
But . . . Slide4
Who is most self conscious
of their appearance?Slide5
Who is most self conscious
of their appearance?
WE CAN’T POSSIBLY KNOW FROM THESE PHOTOGRAPHSSlide6
Physical indicators: Severity & location
In a study by Moss (2005), over
500 participants with body image concerns (e.g., weight, size) and / or visible differences (e.g., scarring, burns)
rated their levels of wellbeing in reltion
to their appearance.Slide7
The impact of the severity of a difference in appearance
Half of
these
500 participants self-assessed how different they looked from the norm
The other
half
were assessed by plastic surgeon (appearance expert) as to how different they looked from the ‘norm’Slide8
Moss (2005): Severity analysis
The
Self
assessed severity ratings of appearance differences –
did
predict
levels of well being, howeverSurgeon assessed
severity ratings of appearance differences – did not
predict well beingSlide9
How different someone THINKS they look predicts well being
How different someone ACTUALLY looks does NOT predict well beingSlide10
Examples:
Alan feels unable to socialise with his peers. When in conversation, he often covers his mouth with his hands, and if possible, avoids talking at all. He is self-conscious “
because
of my bad habit of keeping my mouth open my bottom lip has become really fat.” Others do not perceive his mouth as looking different.
Bob is a shop assistant in his town. He enjoys meeting regular customers and new people. He is aware of scarring on his lips following an infection, and sometimes gets asked about it. However, he is used to this, and does not consider this a very significant part of his life.Slide11
Examples:
Carol has a birth mark about 3cm in diameter on her neck. She is terribly concerned that this is noticeable to everyone she meets, and that they will imagine that this is a “love bite”, and assume she is promiscuous. As a result of this, she avoids others as far as possible, and if she needs to leave the house, always wears a scarf (which she continually re-adjusts)
Diana was scalded by steam as a child when she opened the radiator in her parents’ car. She has extensive visible scarring on her arms and neck. However, she has grown up accepting the attention this sometimes generates, and is practiced at
f
ielding questions. Her work as a teacher, and personal relationships have not been unduly affected by her feelings about appearance.Slide12
Body site/
physical location of a ‘difference’ in appearance
Moss (2005) found that the
physical location
of
the affected body site(s) is a
poor predictor of well beingAreas which are not normally visible
to others (eg those hidden by clothes are as
influential as normally visible areas – see graph on next slide).In
female samples, sensitivity about abdomen/breasts is most associated with poor well beingSlide13
Taller column indicates more distress associated with sensitivity about this body part
Appearance distress
Moss (2005) location analysisSlide14
Taller column indicates more distress associated with sensitivity about this body part
Appearance distress
Sexually significant,
Normally kept hidden
Sexually significant,
Normally kept hidden
Low numbers, unreliable figure
Moss (2005) location analysisSlide15
Non-visible areas of difference (including size differences, skin conditions, scarring, etc.) can
sometimes be
associated with MORE distress than normally visible areas
Non-visible areas introduce the problem of carrying a “secret”
When, and to whom, is the “secret” revealed?
Especially
an issue in relation to romantic/sexual relationshipsSlide16
Other methods of recognising appearance-related distress
Face to face discussion?
Observing behaviour?
Psychometric assessment?
Appropriate for vocational trainers
Appropriate for psychologistsSlide17
Face to face discussionACTIVITY – identify potential advantages/disadvantages of face-to-face assessment
Advantages
DisadvantagesSlide18
Face to face discussion
Advantages
Flexibility
Depth - can cover variety of times and domains
Individualistic
Disadvantages
Highly skilled
Time
Unreliable assessment
Subject to biasSlide19
Observing behaviour
Anxiety symptoms
Social avoidanceNervousness
BlushingSocial awkwardnessNot necessarily the case that these are caused by appearance anxietySlide20
Observing behaviour
Is there an unusually high preoccupation with appearance,
eg
reflected in…Behaviours and conversationConcealing aspects of body (gestures/clothing)
Checking mirrors/reflection more than necessary
Appearance
concerns disrupting the person’s ability to function (causes lateness, cancellations of appointments, avoidance of social situations, anxiety about interviews
etc).Slide21
Observing behaviour
Advantages
Focus on individual
Can analyse social interaction in depth
Disadvantages
Requires high level of skill
Time consuming
Which behaviours?
Context specific
behaviours may be
missedSlide22
Psychometrics – assessment by psychology professionals
Trainers may refer
people to psychologists for a more
formal assessmentTrainers may be supplied with a formal assessment by a psychologist and may need to interpret/understand thisSlide23
Psychometrics – assessment by psychology
professionals: Advantages
Is carefully defined
– Clarity needed about what is being measuredHas known validity –
Assesses the aspect we think
we
want to assessIs reliable – Measurement is likely to be consistent over timeSlide24
What are we measuring when we measure body image?Slide25
Activity:
Think about what your appearance means to you, and how it affects your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.
What questions would
you need to be asked to enable you to communicate this to someone else?Slide26
Challenges of psychometric assessment
When assessing appearance concern using psychometric methods, there are a plethora of scales, often measuring very similar sounding thingsSlide27
Body image
Weight satisfaction
Size perception accuracy
Body satisfaction
Appearance satisfaction
Appearance evaluation
Body esteem
Appearance orientation
Body concern
Body
dysphoria
Body
dysmorphia
Body schema
Body
perception
Body distortion
(Thompson,
Heinberg
, Altabe, &
Tantleff
-Dunn, 1999)Slide28
When interpreting psychometric assessments of body image and appearance concerns, it is important to know which aspects a measure
HAS and HAS NOT assessed.Slide29
Valid and reliable assessment
Known constructs used
Quick/easy
Can track change/outcomes
Psychometric assessment
Advantages
Disadvantages
Which
constructs to measure?
May oversimplify
Language/literacy skills
Data managementSlide30
Gender differences
Men
tend to evaluate and discuss the body as
one entity"I like, sort of my, the whole bit
that is relatively slim, and it's all together so to speak, nothing’s out of place.. areas I don’t like, um, my stomach especially, when it flops over the
trousers”
(Man, 33)
"I’m happy with it, yeah.. it’s
an overall thing”
(Man, 39
)Slide31
Women conceptualise the body as
many distinct parts
"I have quite a naturally flat
stomach, which I like a lot, and I’ve got my stomach pierced because I like the way it looks with that… I’m pleased with my stomach and I try to do sit-ups just to keep it looking okay... I don’t mind my back, I think that looks alright, I’m not very keen on my
legs
because I think they look very stumpy. Um.. and I think they’re also, they don’t seem to have a lot of shape… they just look like sticks, matchsticks (laughing).. um I like my
arms I think they’re fine um.. my
bum’s
alright (laughing) a bit dimply sometimes and I’d probably choose to have bigger boobs
if I
could”
(Woman, 24
)Slide32
Activity:
Who
might need to recognise
“symptoms” of appearance distress? Is the word “symptoms” a problem
? What associations/subtexts does
it
convey?Slide33
Summary
Physical characteristics are poor predictors of appearance self-consciousnessFace-to-face or observational methods provide one way of assessing self-consciousness
Psychologists may use more systematic, psychometric methods