#Ihaveembraced: A pilot cross-sectional naturalistic evaluation of the documentary film Embrace and its potential associations with body image in adult women

© 2020 The Author(s). Background: The aim of this project was to examine the qualitative responses of adult women who had seen the feature-length documentary film 'Embrace'. In addition, to establish the potential for the documentary to be used as an intervention to improve adult body image, a naturalistic study was conducted to examine whether any differences on measures of body image were apparent among women who had, versus those who had not, seen the film. Method: Participants were 1429 women aged 18-77 who were members of the Facebook group 'Body Image Movement' facilitated by Taryn Brumfitt, who also directed the documentary Embrace. Participants completed a cross-sectional online questionnaire regarding whether they had seen the film, their perceptions of the impact of the film on their lives and body image, and a range of standardized scales measuring psychological wellbeing. Results: Overall, the majority of participants had seen the film (n = 1053, 73.7%). Qualitative analysis of open-ended data asking about the changes participants made after viewing the film revealed that a large proportion (44.1%) felt they had higher levels of body appreciation and body confidence, many reported engaging less in dieting (19.6%), and some reported lowered disordered eating (2.8%), since seeing Embrace. Women who had seen the film also reported significantly higher levels of body appreciation (Body Appreciation Scale; medium effect size), and significantly lower levels of internalization of body ideals, self-objectification, body shame, and dietary restraint, than women who had not seen the film. Conclusions: Adult women reported numerous positive responses to their viewing of the film. Future experimental research should explore the efficacy of Embrace as a brief and engaging intervention for improving body image in adult women

A content analysis of thinspiration, fitspiration, and bonespiration imagery on social media

Background On social media, images such as thinspiration, fitspiration, and bonespiration, are shared to inspire certain body ideals. Previous research has demonstrated that exposure to these groups of content is associated with increased body dissatisfaction and decreased self-esteem. It is therefore important that the bodies featured within these groups of content are more fully understood so that effective interventions and preventative measures can be informed, developed, and implemented. Method A content analysis was conducted on a sample of body-focussed images with the hashtags thinspiration, fitspiration, and bonespiration from three social media platforms. Results The analyses showed that thinspiration and bonespiration content contained more thin and objectified bodies, compared to fitspiration which featured a greater prevalence of muscles and muscular bodies. In addition, bonespiration content contained more bone protrusions and fewer muscles than thinspiration content. Conclusions The findings suggest fitspiration may be a less unhealthy type of content; however, a subgroup of imagery was identified which idealised the extremely thin body type and as such this content should also be approached with caution. Future research should utilise qualitative methods to further develop understandings of the body ideals that are constructed within these groups of content and the motivations behind posting this content

Cue-Reactors: Individual Differences in Cue-Induced Craving after Food or Smoking Abstinence

Background: Pavlovian conditioning plays a critical role in both drug addiction and binge eating. Recent animal research suggests that certain individuals are highly sensitive to conditioned cues, whether they signal food or drugs. Are certain humans also more reactive to both food and drug cues? Methods: We examined cue-induced craving for both cigarettes and food, in the same individuals (n = 15 adult smokers). Subjects viewed smoking-related or food-related images after abstaining from either smoking or eating. Results: Certain individuals reported strong cue-induced craving after both smoking and food cues. That is, subjects who reported strong cue-induced craving for cigarettes also rated stronger cue-induced food craving. Conclusions: In humans, like in nonhumans, there may be a ‘‘cue-reactive’ ’ phenotype, consisting of individuals who are highly sensitive to conditioned stimuli. This finding extends recent reports from nonhuman studies. Further understanding this subgroup of smokers may allow clinicians to individually tailor therapies for smoking cessation

A meta-analytic review of stand-alone interventions to improve body image

Objective Numerous stand-alone interventions to improve body image have been developed. The present review used meta-analysis to estimate the effectiveness of such interventions, and to identify the specific change techniques that lead to improvement in body image. Methods The inclusion criteria were that (a) the intervention was stand-alone (i.e., solely focused on improving body image), (b) a control group was used, (c) participants were randomly assigned to conditions, and (d) at least one pretest and one posttest measure of body image was taken. Effect sizes were meta-analysed and moderator analyses were conducted. A taxonomy of 48 change techniques used in interventions targeted at body image was developed; all interventions were coded using this taxonomy. Results The literature search identified 62 tests of interventions (N = 3,846). Interventions produced a small-to-medium improvement in body image (d+ = 0.38), a small-to-medium reduction in beauty ideal internalisation (d+ = -0.37), and a large reduction in social comparison tendencies (d+ = -0.72). However, the effect size for body image was inflated by bias both within and across studies, and was reliable but of small magnitude once corrections for bias were applied. Effect sizes for the other outcomes were no longer reliable once corrections for bias were applied. Several features of the sample, intervention, and methodology moderated intervention effects. Twelve change techniques were associated with improvements in body image, and three techniques were contra-indicated. Conclusions The findings show that interventions engender only small improvements in body image, and underline the need for large-scale, high-quality trials in this area. The review identifies effective techniques that could be deployed in future interventions

Relation of Serum Estrogen Metabolites with Terminal Duct Lobular Unit Involution Among Women Undergoing Diagnostic Image-Guided Breast Biopsy

Higher levels of circulating estrogens and estrogen metabolites (EMs) have been associated with higher breast cancer risk. In breast tissues, reduced levels of terminal duct lobular unit (TDLU) involution, as reflected by higher numbers of TDLUs and acini per TDLU, have also been linked to elevated breast cancer risk. However, it is unknown whether reduced TDLU involution mediates the risk associated with circulating EMs. In a cross-sectional analysis of 94 premenopausal and 92 postmenopausal women referred for clinical breast biopsy at an academic facility in Vermont, we examined the associations of 15 EMs, quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, with the number of TDLUs and acini count/TDLU using zero-inflated Poisson regression with a robust variance estimator and ordinal logistic regression models, respectively. All analyses were stratified by menopausal status and adjusted for potential confounders. Among premenopausal women, comparing the highest vs. the lowest tertiles, levels of unconjugated estradiol (risk ratio (RR) = 1.74, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 1.06-2.87, p trend = 0.03), 2-hydroxyestrone (RR = 1.74, 95 % CI = 1.01-3.01, p trend = 0.04), and 4-hydroxyestrone (RR = 1.74, 95 % CI = 0.99-3.06, p trend = 0.04) were associated with significantly higher TDLU count. Among postmenopausal women, higher levels of estradiol (RR = 2.09, 95 % CI = 1.01-4.30, p trend = 0.04) and 16α-hydroxyestrone (RR = 2.27, 95 % CI = 1.29-3.99, p trend = 0.02) were significantly associated with higher TDLU count. Among postmenopausal women, higher levels of EMs, specifically conjugated estrone and 2- and 4-pathway catechols, were also associated with higher acini count/TDLU. Our data suggest that higher levels of serum EMs are generally associated with lower levels of TDLU involution

The benzene metabolite para-benzoquinone is genotoxic in human, phorbol-12-acetate-13-myristate induced, peripheral blood mononuclear cells at low concentrations

Benzene is one of the most prominent occupational and environmental pollutants. The substance is a proven human carcinogen that induces hematologic malignancies in humans, probably at even low doses. Yet knowledge of the mechanisms leading to benzene-induced carcinogenesis is still incomplete. Benzene itself is not genotoxic. The generation of carcinogenic metabolites involves the production of oxidized intermediates such as catechol, hydroquinone and para-benzoquinone (p-BQ) in the liver. Further activation to the ultimate carcinogenic intermediates is most probably catalyzed by myeloperoxidase (MPO). Yet the products of the MPO pathway have not been identified. If an oxidized benzene metabolite such as p-BQ was actually the precursor for the ultimate carcinogenic benzene metabolite and further activation proceeds via MPO mediated reactions, it should be possible to activate p-BQ to a genotoxic compound in vitro. We tested this hypothesis with phorbol-12-acetate-13-myristate (PMA) activated peripheral blood cells exposed to p-BQ, using the cytokinesis-block micronucleus test. Addition of 20–28 ng/ml PMA caused a significant increase of micronuclei at low and non-cytotoxic p-BQ concentrations between 0.04 and 0.2 μg/ml (0.37–1.85 μM). Thus with PMA or p-BQ alone no reproducible elevation of micronuclei was seen up to toxic concentrations. PMA and p-BQ induce micronuclei when administered jointly. Our results add further support to the hypothesis that MPO is a key enzyme in the activation of benzene

Quantifying Individual Variation in the Propensity to Attribute Incentive Salience to Reward Cues

If reward-associated cues acquire the properties of incentive stimuli they can come to powerfully control behavior, and potentially promote maladaptive behavior. Pavlovian incentive stimuli are defined as stimuli that have three fundamental properties: they are attractive, they are themselves desired, and they can spur instrumental actions. We have found, however, that there is considerable individual variation in the extent to which animals attribute Pavlovian incentive motivational properties (“incentive salience”) to reward cues. The purpose of this paper was to develop criteria for identifying and classifying individuals based on their propensity to attribute incentive salience to reward cues. To do this, we conducted a meta-analysis of a large sample of rats (N = 1,878) subjected to a classic Pavlovian conditioning procedure. We then used the propensity of animals to approach a cue predictive of reward (one index of the extent to which the cue was attributed with incentive salience), to characterize two behavioral phenotypes in this population: animals that approached the cue (“sign-trackers”) vs. others that approached the location of reward delivery (“goal-trackers”). This variation in Pavlovian approach behavior predicted other behavioral indices of the propensity to attribute incentive salience to reward cues. Thus, the procedures reported here should be useful for making comparisons across studies and for assessing individual variation in incentive salience attribution in small samples of the population, or even for classifying single animals

Evaluating the Psychometric Quality of Social Skills Measures: A Systematic Review

Introduction - Impairments in social functioning are associated with an array of adverse outcomes. Social skills measures are commonly used by health professionals to assess and plan the treatment of social skills difficulties. There is a need to comprehensively evaluate the quality of psychometric properties reported across these measures to guide assessment and treatment planning. Objective - To conduct a systematic review of the literature on the psychometric properties of social skills and behaviours measures for both children and adults. Methods - A systematic search was performed using four electronic databases: CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase and Pubmed; the Health and Psychosocial Instruments database; and grey literature using PsycExtra and Google Scholar. The psychometric properties of the social skills measures were evaluated against the COSMIN taxonomy of measurement properties using pre-set psychometric criteria. Results - Thirty-Six studies and nine manuals were included to assess the psychometric properties of thirteen social skills measures that met the inclusion criteria. Most measures obtained excellent overall methodological quality scores for internal consistency and reliability. However, eight measures did not report measurement error, nine measures did not report cross-cultural validity and eleven measures did not report criterion validity. Conclusions - The overall quality of the psychometric properties of most measures was satisfactory. The SSBS-2, HCSBS and PKBS-2 were the three measures with the most robust evidence of sound psychometric quality in at least seven of the eight psychometric properties that were appraised. A universal working definition of social functioning as an overarching construct is recommended. There is a need for ongoing research in the area of the psychometric properties of social skills and behaviours instruments