The Impact of a Dissonance-Based Eating Disorders Intervention on Implicit Attitudes to Thinness in Women of Diverse Sexual Orientations
Dissonance-based body image programs have shown long-term effectiveness in preventing eating disorders and reducing risk factors for eating disorders in women. Here we report on the potential for one such intervention to impact on implicit attitudes toward thinness as well as an explicit measure of...
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| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02611/full |
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| author | R. M. Naina Kant Agnes Wong-Chung Elizabeth H. Evans Elaine C. Stanton Lynda G. Boothroyd |
| author_facet | R. M. Naina Kant Agnes Wong-Chung Elizabeth H. Evans Elaine C. Stanton Lynda G. Boothroyd |
| author_sort | R. M. Naina Kant |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Dissonance-based body image programs have shown long-term effectiveness in preventing eating disorders and reducing risk factors for eating disorders in women. Here we report on the potential for one such intervention to impact on implicit attitudes toward thinness as well as an explicit measure of eating attitudes, across a sexually diverse group of young women. The Succeed Body Image Programme was adapted to remove heteronormative assumptions and was delivered to a final sample of 56 undergraduate women who reported their sexual orientation as either “predominantly heterosexual” (our term; 1 or 2 on a 7-point Kinsey scale, n = 38) or non-heterosexual (3–7 on the Kinsey scale, n = 18). Before and after the intervention, they completed the Eating Attitudes Test-26, and an associative reaction time task based on the Implicit Association Test, in which bodies of low and higher weight were paired with socially desirable or undesirable traits. A total of 37 predominantly heterosexual women completed a control intervention in which they read NHS leaflets on eating disorders and healthy weight. Results showed that the intervention made predominantly heterosexual participants less prone, versus control, to associating thinness with positive traits on the IAT and all women completing the intervention reported a lower level of disordered eating attitudes at post- than pre-test. Non-heterosexual women, however, showed a non-significant increase in thin-bias on the IAT, perhaps due to their low baseline. These results imply that intensive dissonance-based programs can change attitudes at the automatic, implicit level as well as merely giving women tools to overcome those implicit attitudes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T14:30:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-10fcda17501344698ccc27f4d217f9b5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T14:30:03Z |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-10fcda17501344698ccc27f4d217f9b52022-12-22T01:44:58ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-11-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.02611493107The Impact of a Dissonance-Based Eating Disorders Intervention on Implicit Attitudes to Thinness in Women of Diverse Sexual OrientationsR. M. Naina Kant0Agnes Wong-Chung1Elizabeth H. Evans2Elaine C. Stanton3Lynda G. Boothroyd4Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United KingdomDepartment of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United KingdomSchool of Psychology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United KingdomDepartment of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United KingdomDepartment of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United KingdomDissonance-based body image programs have shown long-term effectiveness in preventing eating disorders and reducing risk factors for eating disorders in women. Here we report on the potential for one such intervention to impact on implicit attitudes toward thinness as well as an explicit measure of eating attitudes, across a sexually diverse group of young women. The Succeed Body Image Programme was adapted to remove heteronormative assumptions and was delivered to a final sample of 56 undergraduate women who reported their sexual orientation as either “predominantly heterosexual” (our term; 1 or 2 on a 7-point Kinsey scale, n = 38) or non-heterosexual (3–7 on the Kinsey scale, n = 18). Before and after the intervention, they completed the Eating Attitudes Test-26, and an associative reaction time task based on the Implicit Association Test, in which bodies of low and higher weight were paired with socially desirable or undesirable traits. A total of 37 predominantly heterosexual women completed a control intervention in which they read NHS leaflets on eating disorders and healthy weight. Results showed that the intervention made predominantly heterosexual participants less prone, versus control, to associating thinness with positive traits on the IAT and all women completing the intervention reported a lower level of disordered eating attitudes at post- than pre-test. Non-heterosexual women, however, showed a non-significant increase in thin-bias on the IAT, perhaps due to their low baseline. These results imply that intensive dissonance-based programs can change attitudes at the automatic, implicit level as well as merely giving women tools to overcome those implicit attitudes.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02611/fullcognitive dissonancebody imageinterventioneating disordersimplicit attitudes |
| spellingShingle | R. M. Naina Kant Agnes Wong-Chung Elizabeth H. Evans Elaine C. Stanton Lynda G. Boothroyd The Impact of a Dissonance-Based Eating Disorders Intervention on Implicit Attitudes to Thinness in Women of Diverse Sexual Orientations Frontiers in Psychology cognitive dissonance body image intervention eating disorders implicit attitudes |
| title | The Impact of a Dissonance-Based Eating Disorders Intervention on Implicit Attitudes to Thinness in Women of Diverse Sexual Orientations |
| title_full | The Impact of a Dissonance-Based Eating Disorders Intervention on Implicit Attitudes to Thinness in Women of Diverse Sexual Orientations |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of a Dissonance-Based Eating Disorders Intervention on Implicit Attitudes to Thinness in Women of Diverse Sexual Orientations |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of a Dissonance-Based Eating Disorders Intervention on Implicit Attitudes to Thinness in Women of Diverse Sexual Orientations |
| title_short | The Impact of a Dissonance-Based Eating Disorders Intervention on Implicit Attitudes to Thinness in Women of Diverse Sexual Orientations |
| title_sort | impact of a dissonance based eating disorders intervention on implicit attitudes to thinness in women of diverse sexual orientations |
| topic | cognitive dissonance body image intervention eating disorders implicit attitudes |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02611/full |
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