Can appearance conversations explain differences between gay and heterosexual men's body dissatisfaction?

Men's body dissatisfaction is prevalent and a serious health concern as it is associated with negative outcomes including depression, disordered eating, and anabolic steroid abuse. Gay men are particularly vulnerable to body dissatisfaction, perhaps due to heightened sociocultural appearance pressures experienced in gay subculture. Appearance conversations represent an underresearched, but potentially potent, mechanism of appearance pressures. The current study explored whether differences in the frequency of engaging in appearance conversations accounted for differences in body dissatisfaction and associated risk factors among gay and heterosexual men. A purposeful sample of gay (N = 77, Mage = 32.57) and heterosexual (N = 78, Mage = 25.30) men were recruited from community organizations in the United Kingdom. Participants completed an online questionnaire assessing appearance conversations, body dissatisfaction, appearance orientation, and internalization of appearance ideals. Gay men reported more frequent engagement in positive and negative appearance conversations and greater body dissatisfaction, appearance orientation, and general internalization than heterosexual men. Moreover, frequency of appearance conversations mediated the relationship between sexuality and the majority of study variables, including body dissatisfaction (ps<.05). These findings suggest that appearance conversations are an important sociocultural influence on male body image and that they are important in understanding the differences between gay and heterosexual men's body dissatisfaction and associated risk factors. © 2013 American Psychological Association

Testing a dissonance body image intervention among young girls

Objective: Body image and eating disorder interventions based on cognitive dissonance have been shown to be effective among girls and women aged 14 and above. This article reports a preliminary examination of whether a dissonance intervention is also effective when delivered in a school setting to 12- and 13-year-old girls in the United Kingdom Method: Girls (N =106, mean age =12.07 years, SD =.27) were allocated to the intervention condition or a waitlist control. Results: In contrast to the control group, girls in the intervention condition reported significant reductions in body dissatisfaction and internalization of a thin body ideal post-intervention. There was no significant change in self-reported dietary restraint for either condition. In addition, compared with the control group, girls in the intervention condition showed increased resilience to negative media effects 1-month post-intervention. Conclusions: Results suggests that dissonance based programs can reduce body dissatisfaction, internalization and negative media effects among a younger group of girls than previously examined and in an United Kingdom school setting. © 2013 American Psychological Association

Colourism: a global adolescent health concern

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Colourism, a form of prejudice and discrimination based solely upon skin colour, stands to jeopardize the physical health, wellbeing and life chances of adolescents of colour, globally. RECENT FINDINGS: Research shows that adolescents can experience colourism at school and college, in the criminal justice system, at work and in the media they consume. It is therefore unsurprising that adolescents of colour often express a desire for lighter skin tones and/or are dissatisfied with their skin tone. Although research is scarce, some studies include older adolescents in their samples of skin-lightening product users. This is significant as the evidence is clear that the unmonitored use of skin-lightening products can be harmful to physical and psychological health, with evidence linking skin-lightening use to skin damage, kidney failure and depression. SUMMARY: Although it is evident that colourism is central to the lives of adolescents of colour, more research is needed concerning the use of skin-lightening products among adolescents. Media literacy and critical race theory offer avenues in helping attenuate the harmful impact of colourism for adolescents of colour

Costing the invisible: A review of the evidence examining the links between body image, aspirations, education and workplace confidence

Throughout the world, girls and women are interested in their looks. What has been perceived as an enjoyable part of life is however imbued with negative economic and psychological costs which are rarely calculated. International studies confirm the disturbing trend that body dissatisfaction and the perception that one is too large (even if this is not the case) undermine adolescent girls’ academic achievement. It doesn’t lead to failure, but to a diminishing in confidence and hence in performance. The marketing of beauty aimed at girls as young as five through to women in their seventies has made the idea of beauty more accessible but simultaneously, the narrowing of the ideal standard to very young women with one body type, one look, one shape, one colour, one breast or buttock size whose images are then photo-shopped to create bodies that rarely exist in real life - and are frequently unrecognizable to the model herself - has had many unfortunate consequences. The beauty ideals which saturate all media from facebook, to tumblr, to instagram, to mainstream magazines, music videos and billboards, create anxiety and shame around personal appearance.Concern about looks, size, weight, shape and attractiveness filch girls’ and women’s minds, passions and bodies. There is an urgent need for multi-level intervention to reverse the trend of poor body image and poor body confidence. The silent self-attacks are thwarting girls’ ambitions at exactly the time when society is apparently opening up to them. Programmes and social policy that can interrupt the cycle of undermining that is intensifying need to be underpinned by robust research, which can demonstrate the economic and psychological case for underpinning girls’ capability and can demonstrate the effectiveness of such strategies. The substantial economic costs of clinical eating disorders and obesity have been assessed in terms of present and future expenditure to the NHS and opportunities lost for young women. However, no costing exists of the ubiquitous breeding of body insecurity which takes form in the growth of appearance anxiety, body dysmorphias, bulimic behaviours, compulsive eating, and confidence issues, many of which are now normative and widespread among adults and young people. It is urgently required

#fitspo or #loveyourself? The impact of fitspiration and self-compassion Instagram images on women's body image, self-compassion, and mood

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd This study experimentally examined the impact of exposure to fitspiration images and self-compassion quotes on social media on young women's body satisfaction, body appreciation, self-compassion, and negative mood. Female undergraduate students (N=160) were randomly assigned to view either Instagram images of fitspiration, self-compassion quotes, a combination of both, or appearance-neutral images. Results showed no differences between viewing fitspiration images compared to viewing neutral images, except for poorer self-compassion among those who viewed fitspiration images. However, women who viewed self-compassion quotes showed greater body satisfaction, body appreciation, self-compassion, and reduced negative mood compared to women who viewed neutral images. Further, viewing a combination of fitspiration images and self-compassion quotes led to positive outcomes compared to viewing only fitspiration images. Trait levels of thin-ideal internalisation moderated some effects. The findings suggest that self-compassion might offer a novel avenue for attenuating the negative impact of social media on women's body satisfaction

Weight Stigma in Maternity Care: Women’s Experiences and Care Providers’ Attitudes

Weight stigma is pervasive in Western society and in healthcare settings, and has a negative impact on victims\u27 psychological and physical health. In the context of an increasing focus on the management of overweight and obese women during and after pregnancy in research and clinical practice, the current studies aimed to examine the presence of weight stigma in maternity care. Addressing previous limitations in the weight stigma literature, this paper quantitatively explores the presence of weight stigma from both patient and care provider perspectives. Study One investigated associations between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and experiences of maternity care from a state-wide, self-reported survey of 627 Australian women who gave birth in 2009. Study Two involved administration of an online survey to 248 Australian pre-service medical and maternity care providers, to investigate their perceptions of, and attitudes towards, providing care for pregnant patients of differing body sizes. Both studies used linear regression analyses

Consumer opinion on social policy approaches to promoting positive body image: Airbrushed media images and disclaimer labels

© The Author(s) 2015. Disclaimer labels on airbrushed media images have generated political attention and advocacy as a social policy approach to promoting positive body image. Experimental research suggests that labelling is ineffective and consumers' viewpoints have been overlooked. A mixed-method study explored British consumers' (N = 1555, aged 11-78 years) opinions on body image and social policy approaches. Thematic analysis indicated scepticism about the effectiveness of labelling images. Quantitatively, adults, although not adolescents, reported that labelling was unlikely to improve body image. Appearance diversity in media and reorienting social norms from appearance to function and health were perceived as effective strategies. Social policy and research implications are discussed

I’m Not Just Fat, I’m Old: Has the Study of Body Image Talk Overlooked “Old Talk?”

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 whether or not “old talk,” a hereto un-described form of body image talk, appears to be a parallel, but distinct, form of body image talk that taps into the young dimension of the thin-young-ideal standard of female beauty. An international, internet sample of women (aged 18-87, N = 914) completed questionnaires aimed at assessing fat talk, old talk, body image disturbance, and eating disorder pathology. Results: Results indicated that both fat talk and old talk were reported by women across the lifespan, although they evidenced different trajectories of frequency. Like fat talk, old talk was significantly correlated with body image disturbance and eating disorder pathology, albeit at a lower rate than fat talk in the total sample. Old talk was more highly correlated with ageing appearance anxiety than fat talk, and the correlation between old talk and body image disturbance and ED pathology increased with women’s ages. Conclusion: Results suggest that old talk is a form of body image talk that is related to but distinct from fat talk. Old talk appears to be similarly problematic to fat talk for women whose age increases their deviation from the thin-young-ideal. Further research into the phenomenon of old talk is warranted as is increased attention to fat talk across the full lifespan of women

I'm not just fat, I'm old: Has the study of body image overlooked " old talk"?

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 whether or not " old talk," a hereto un-described form of body image talk, appears to be a parallel, but distinct, form of body image talk that taps into the young dimension of the thin-young-ideal standard of female beauty. An international, internet sample of women (aged 18-87, N = 914) completed questionnaires aimed at assessing fat talk, old talk, body image disturbance, and eating disorder pathology. Results: Results indicated that both fat talk and old talk were reported by women across the lifespan, although they evidenced different trajectories of frequency. Like fat talk, old talk was significantly correlated with body image disturbance and eating disorder pathology, albeit at a lower rate than fat talk in the total sample. Old talk was more highly correlated with ageing appearance anxiety than fat talk, and the correlation between old talk and body image disturbance and ED pathology increased with women's ages. Conclusion: Results suggest that old talk is a form of body image talk that is related to but distinct from fat talk. Old talk appears to be similarly problematic to fat talk for women whose age increases their deviation from the thin-young-ideal. Further research into the phenomenon of old talk is warranted as is increased attention to fat talk across the full lifespan of women. © 2013 Becker et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd