Goals of this Module To provide information about The targets whowhat of interventions Frameworks used to guide interventions Activities to encourage confidence in relation to appearance Resources to supplement interventions ID: 474666
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Slide1
Interventions Designed to Improve Body ImageSlide2
Goals of this Module
To provide information about
The targets (who/what) of interventions Frameworks used to guide interventions
Activities to encourage confidence in relation to appearanceResources to supplement interventionsSlide3
Who/what are the Targets of Interventions?
Public Policy
Interventions aimed at facilitating change in the physical and social environment that may be contributing to appearance dissatisfaction
Eg., influencing laws regarding the images used in the advertising of beauty products
Individuals and groups
Interventions aiming to change attitudes and
behaviour
at an individual level. These are often conducted among groups at risk for appearance dissatisfaction
Eg
.,school-based
programmes
delivered to small groups or whole classesSlide4
Reducing Risk: Framing the Content & Delivery of Interventions
The ‘Risk Factor Model’
Most
accepted theoretical framework for improving body imageTargets sociocultural and individual risk factors for the development of appearance dissatisfactionBased
on the theory that if you reduce the presence of influential risk
factors, appearance dissatisfaction
is less likely to occur
For example, targeting known risk factors such as
T
he
internalisation
of appearance ideals
Making
unfavourable appearance-comparisons with peersSlide5
Common Approaches to Intervention Slide6
1. Media Literacy
Click on the image above to watch the Dove film ‘Onslaught
’
http://vimeo.com/4097693 Slide7
Why focus on the media?
Exposure to media images of the male and female ‘ideals’ has a negative impact on body image in the short and long term
(Levine &
Murnen, 2009)Media images are everywhere – it is easier to change our response to them than banning or changing the imagesYoung people with higher levels of media literacy have lower levels of body dissatisfaction (McLean, Paxton & Wertheim, 2013) Slide8
Media Literacy
Media Literacy is
‘the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media in a variety of
forms’ (Center for Media Literacy, 2011)We aim to provide young people the skills to deconstruct and critique the media images and messages they see to reduce the negative impact of media exposure. Slide9
Media Literacy: Media Smart
The most effective media literacy program that has been tested in the school environment is
Media Smart (Australian version)
Australian program that consists of eight, 50-minute classroom lessons. Activities focus on media literacy, activism, and advocacy, including an exploration of the media's stereotypical portrayal of women and men in advertising, learning about airbrushing, and writing protest letters to industry.
Recent trials have found this program to be effective in reducing 13-year old girls' and boys' concerns with, and over-evaluation of, body weight and shape, dieting, body dissatisfaction, and depression
(
Wilksch
& Wade, 2009).
http://
sparky.socsci.flinders.edu.au
/
researchonline
/projects/5Slide10
Improving Media literacy: Caution!
If you are thinking of implementing a media literacy intervention…..Before you start:
I
t is tempting to show trainers/students lots of media images of ideal bodies when demonstrating the portrayal of men and women in the mediaHowever- we know that exposure to these images increases appearance dissatisfaction. Begin the session by introducing the concept of consuming images and messages with critical eye
-
prior to displaying images.Slide11
Media Literacy: Ideas for Activities
Start a discussion about stereotypes portrayed in the media:
Ask trainers/students to brainstorm the typical appearance of men/ woman in the media (
eg newscasters; presenters). Why might these people be selected? Is this what they personally consider attractive?What about people with disfigurements? How are they portrayed? What characters do they play?Slide12
Media Literacy: Activities
Media tricks- Watch the Dove ‘Evolution’ clip to find out what goes into a
photoshoot
. http://youtu.be/hibyAJOSW8U Discuss whether this is what was expected? Or do they use more manipulation than the students expected thought?Slide13
Media Literacy: Activities
“
Photoshop Fakes”- use before/after pictures of men and women and ask students to identify what elements of an image have been altered.
Start with faces/hair and progress to full body shots. [Try to avoid showing trainers/students too many models that represent the thin/muscular ideal]. Discussion why the images have been photoshopped
Finish with a debate: do we feel comfortable with this? What might be impacts be? Should it be allowed?Slide14
Before & After ImagesSlide15
Media Literacy: Resources
Swedish retouching site
http://demo.fb.se/e/girlpower/retouch/
Center for Media Literacy (USA) http://www.medialit.org/
Young women, and body image in the digital
age
http
://www.qvwc.org.au/programs/past-programs/positive-body-image/
Slide16
2. Addressing the Impact of PeersSlide17
Why Target Peers?
Peers are the most important social context for adolescents
Research by Helfert
& Warschburger (2011) & Paxton, Schutz, Wertheim, & Muir (1999) have demonstrated that the following are risk factors for appearance dissatisfaction
Making appearance comparisons with peers
Having appearance conversations with peers &
Appearance-related teasing by peersSlide18
Social Comparisons
Have a negative impact because young people compare their body to that of their peers, and become dissatisfied if they feel that the peers are more attractive
Often, comparisons are not valid, as the other person is taller/shorter/has different genetic make-up.
We need to try to encourage young people to avoid comparing their appearance to their peersSlide19
Appearance-based Teasing
Has obvious direct negative impact on body image of recipient
There is also a negative impact of vicarious teasing (i.e., watching others get teased about their weight) as it established group norms and standards of appearance.
We need to make efforts to stop teasing at system and individual levels Slide20
Appearance Conversations
Initiate and maintain group norms and expectations about appearance, convey the importance of looks, and model
behaviours
to change weight and shape.We need to make young people aware of the influence of these conversations so that they can monitor themSlide21
An Example of a Peer Intervention:
Appearance Conversations
Introduce the concept of ‘appearance talk’ (
eg comments made about a person’s body shape, size, facial appearance, clothing, skin colour, disfigurement)Ask trainers/students to brainstorm the potentially negative impacts of these conversations on their own physical, social, and emotional health and the wellbeing of others
In groups, develop scenarios of common ‘appearance talk’ situations, then exchange your scenario with another group.
Choose one scenario and ask trainers/students to write an ‘alternative ending’
After sharing all of the scenarios and endings, brainstorm a list of ‘things we can do’ to reduce appearance talk.Slide22
Alternative endings: What could you do to stop Appearance Talk?
Divert the conversation to another topic
Ignore the appearance talk without ignoring the person
Highlight qualities other than appearanceTry not to direct attention towards body size or any other aspects of physical appearanceDon’t dismiss the concerns as fake, provide reassurance without buying into the appearance-talk cycle
Focus on health talk, not appearance-talk
Eg
“healthy eating” rather than “dieting”
Remember that it’s okay for people to feel confident about their body, and it doesn’t mean they are bragging or stuck-up
(Taken from Happy Being Me- Richardson & Paxton, 2010 )Slide23
Ideas for Additional Activities
Encourage trainees/students to identify and discuss examples of appearance-based discrimination and the bias towards attractive people in current society.
Encourage trainees/students to explore the laws concerning discrimination in your country. Do they include discrimination on the basis of appearance? Do they think the laws be changed?
Ask whether anyone experienced examples of appearance based teasing or discrimination in practice? Share the examples and choose one or two to develop an ‘alternative ending’ to the situation B
rainstorm a list of ‘things we can do’ to prevent appearance based discrimination
What about the ‘victims’ of appearance-related teasing? Can anything be done to reduce the negative impacts? Can they do anything themselves? What can ‘bystanders’ do? Slide24
Evidence based Peer Interventions
Happy Being Me
has been the most successful peer program among adolescent girls (Richardson & Paxton, 2010).
This programme been replicated with other age groups and with groups of males and females in both Australia and the UK with promising results (Diedrichs et al., 2012).This program can be accessed with permission by contacting Prof. Susan Paxton susan.paxton@latrobe.edu.auSlide25
Peer
Programmes: Additional Resources
Y’s Girl
Download Resources from http://www.ywca.net/Page/What-We-Do/Ys-Girl Slide26
3. Cognitive DissonanceSlide27
How do Cognitive Dissonance Approaches Work?
‘Internalization’ occurs when people adopt the societal appearance ideals
as something to which they believe they should aspire to.Internalization of the thin and muscular ideals for women & men is one of the strongest risk factors for the development of body dissatisfaction (Thompson & Stice, 2001).Cognitive dissonance interventions attempt to reduce internalisation of the thin idealSlide28
Explaining Cognitive Dissonance
‘Cognitive Dissonance’ (
Festinger, 1957) refers to a the discomfort felt when there is an inconsistency (‘dissonance’) between an individual's beliefs and their
behaviours. This discomfort motivates the person to change either their attitude or their behaviour in order to reduce this inconsistency (Stice
et al., 2008).Slide29
Explaining
Cognitive Dissonance
For example: Many girls diet because they have internalized the idea that being thin is an ideal they must aspire to, and because they believe this will make them more popular
A cognitive dissonance approach encourages girls to challenge the connection between thinness and popularity If the intervention is successful, the dieting will become inconsistent with their new attitude (there is no relationship between thinness and popularity), so they will stop dieting.Slide30
Cognitive Dissonance: Evidence base
There is a substantial amount of evidence supporting the success of this approach in older adolescents and young women.
Research has focused on two main programs,
The Body Project and Reflections Body Image Program (references in later slide) This approach has been effective with women and groups of female high school and university students (
Stice
et al., 2008;
Halliwell
& Diedrichs, in press). Slide31
Activity based on the Cognitive Dissonance
Approach
Discuss current appearance ideals for men and women as depicted in the media (films, TV, magazines
etc). Why to people aspire to these ideals? Are their beliefs about how their lives will be different if they achieve the ideals accurate?What are the costs to consumers of these images in trying to achieve these ‘ideals’? Brainstorm the physical, social, emotional, and financial costs… Slide32
Cognitive Dissonance: Resources
The Body Project
Eric
Stice
Purchase book from Amazon
Purchase access online from
http://www.bodyprojectsupport.org/
Succeed Body Image Program
Contact Succeed
www.succeedfoundation.org/work/sbip
Slide33
ENCOURAGING BODY CONFIDENCE IN EVERYDAY PRACTICE
Identify situations in your work where body image can be an issue for your trainees/students – or perhaps for you? How could you initiate simple actions to counteract this?
For example: students are often nervous before doing presentations to the class because they worry what people will think when they look at them
Solution: Encourage students to practice using confident posture and body language; use ‘ice breaker’ activities that build trust with the group prior to completing presentations, etc.Slide34
ENCOURAGING BODY CONFIDENCE IN EVERYDAY PRACTICE
Consider
engaging in social activism (for example, efforts to influence policy and practice in your institution, city, country) about the negatives impacts of appearance concerns for your trainees
Consider advocating compulsory training about the impacts of appearance concerns for all vocational trainers and guidance counselorsSlide35
Avoid using guest speakers, images, articles or
books that relate to people
who have recovered from eating disorders These do not
improve body image or ‘scare people off’ developing an eating disorder. Instead, they may glamourize disordered eating and
may make this appealing to
vulnerable young people.
Avoid assignments
focussing on eating
disorders. These topics are
often chosen by young people who are susceptible and may
give them
access to information to
initiate or fuel
their disorder
Don’t ask students to record food intake or keep a food diary.
This is behaviour associated with strict control of diet
. Evidence shows that dieting this way is ineffective.Don’t weigh students in class, or conduct fitness testing.This promotes self-consciousness, competition (which may trigger dieting regimes to improve scores) and appearance comparisons
THINGS TO AVOID…..Slide36
SUMMARY
Targets of interventions designed to promote positive body
image include public policy, individuals and groups
Frameworks guiding interventions focus on known risk factors, Approaches include media literacy, reducing the impact of peers, and creating cognitive dissonance to reduce internalisation of the thin and muscular ideals
Specific activities can encourage
confidence in relation to
appearance, and resources have
beem
provided.Slide37
References
Center for Media Literacy. (2011). Media Literacy- A definition and more. Available URL: http://
www.medialit.org/media-literacy-definition-and-more
Diedrichs, P. C., Bird, E., & Halliwell, E. (2012). "Happy Being Me" in Britain: The evaluation of a school-based disordered eating and neagtive body image intervention with pre-adolescent girls and boys.
Paper presented at the International Conference on Eating Disorders, Austin, Texas.
Festinger
, L. (1957).
A theory of cognitive dissonance
. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Halliwell
, E., & Diedrichs, P. C. (In press). Effectiveness of a Dissonance Eating Disorder Prevention Program among 12 and 13 year old British Girls.
Health Psychology
Helfert
, S., &
Warschburger
, P. (2013). The face of appearance-related social pressure: Gender, age and body mass variations in peer and parental pressure during adolescence.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 7, 16-27.
Levine, M., & Murnen, S. K. (2009). "Everybody knows that mass media are/are not [pick one] a cause of eating disorders": A critical review of evidence for a causal link between media, negative body image, and disordered eating in females. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 28, 9-42.McLean, S. A., Paxton, S. J., & Wertheim, E. H. (2013). Mediators of the relationship between media literacy and body dissatisfaction in early adolescent girls: Implications for prevention.
Body Image, 10
(3), 282-289.
Paxton, S.,
Schutz
, H. K., Wertheim, E. H., & Muir, S. L. (1999). Friendship clique and peer influences on body image concerns, dietary restraint, extreme weight loss behaviors, and binge eating in adolescent girls.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 108
, 255-266.
Richardson, S. M., & Paxton, S. J. (2010). An evaluation of a body image intervention based on risk factors for body dissatisfaction: A controlled study with adolescent girls.
International Journal of Eating Disorders, 43
(2), 112-122.
Stice
, E., Shaw, H., Becker, C. B., & Rohde, P. (2008). Dissonance-based interventions for the prevention of eating disorders: Using persuasion principles to promote health.
Preventive Science, 9
, 114-128.
Thompson, J. K., &
Stice
, E. (2001). Thin-ideal internalization: Mounting evidence for a new risk factor for body-image disturbance and eating pathology.
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10
(5), 181-183.