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PubMedDate not supplied

Body image, media, and eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Eating disorders, including obesity, are a major public health problem today. Throughout history, body image has been determined by various factors, including politics and media. Exposure to mass media (television, movies, magazines, Internet) is correlated with obesity and negative body image, which may lead to disordered eating. The authors attempt to explain the historical context of the problem and explore potential avenues for change. METHOD: The authors review changes in ideal female body type throughout history, comment on current attitudes toward shape and weight in both men and women, and outline interventions aimed at increasing healthy habits and fostering self-esteem in youth. RESULTS: Throughout history, the ideal of beauty has been difficult to achieve and has been shaped by social context. Current mass media is ubiquitous and powerful, leading to increased body dissatisfaction among both men and women. CONCLUSION: Parents need to limit children's exposure to media, promote healthy eating and moderate physical activity, and encourage participation in activities that increase mastery and self-esteem. Funding for high-quality, visible advertising campaigns promoting healthy life styles may increase awareness.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Test-retest stability of body-image scores in a sample of 12- to 14-yr.-olds.

The present study investigated test-retest variation in Body Image Questionnaire scores among a sample of British school children. 112 participants from three different school years (aged 12 to 14 years) completed the Body Image Questionnaire on two occasions separated by a 6-wk. period. No intervention designed to change perceptions of body shape took place, hence, tesr-retest scores should be stable. Analysis indicated a significantly greater variation among 12- and 13-yr-olds upon retest, but not for 14-yr.-olds. Research is needed investigating factorial and test-retest stability of the measure for use with children aged 12 or under.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Development of internal body image from childhood to early adolescence.

The study aimed at providing a psychogenetic characterization of the developmental patterns through which the graphic representations of the inside of the body progress, and at testing the developmental hypothesis of a progressive integration of genital parts into the internal body image. The drawings of the inside of the body by 360 children of both sexes and of age 5 to 10 yr., and by 213 early adolescents, boys and girls of ages 11 to 14 yr., were analyzed on the basis of a series of qualitative and quantitative criteria. The relationship between age and type of drawing corresponds to expectations in children and appears less linear for early adolescents. Further, data support the developmental process of integration of genitals into the body image and show differential aspects in boys and girls.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Clarifying body-image disturbance: analysis of a multidimensional model using structural modeling.

A multidimensional model of body-image disturbance was tested. The model incorporated the concepts of body-size distortion, preference for thinness, body dissatisfaction, and fear of fatness as predictors of restrictive eating. The LISREL 7 program was used to perform a structural modeling analysis of the theoretical model. A total of 175 women participated in the study (54 eating-disordered patients and 121 undergraduate students). The results supported the hypothesized four-dimensional model relative to alternative one-, two-, and three-dimensional models. Body dissatisfaction appeared to be directly affected by both body-size distortion and preference for thinness. Fear of fatness was found to be the best predictor of restrictive eating. The results appeared consistent across the clinical and nonclinical samples. These data may help resolve many of the current controversies in the body-image literature. The results also suggested the need to develop more sound assessment instruments for fear of fatness.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1993

Body image and sexuality in oophorectomized women.

Five groups of women ages 35 to 55 years were studied, including a nonsurgical control group (CTL), a hysterectomy-only (HYS), and three oophorectomy groups: an untreated group (UNT), women on estrogen replacement therapy (EST), and women on androgen-estrogen replacement therapy (COM). The interview/questionnaire session assessed mood, body image, and sexual functioning. In a second session completed by 58 of 129 subjects (45%), a photoplethysmograph measured vaginal blood flow in response to an erotic stimulus while subjects concurrently monitored subjective arousal. Overall, the UNT and EST groups had significantly lower self-reported desire and arousal than the remaining three groups. Body image was significantly poorer in the UNT group. All surgical groups reported more sexual problems than the control group. Furthermore, about a third of the CTL group reported positive changes in body image and sexuality in the previous 5 years. This effect was attenuated in the HYS, COM, and EST groups and almost absent in the UNT group. No significant group differences were obtained, however, on mood or vaginal blood flow and subjective arousal to an erotic stimulus. The role of differential levels of testosterone on sexuality is discussed as well as its clinical implications.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

A prospective study of ponderosity, body image, self-concept, and psychological variables in children.

The association between changes in body mass index over 1 year and measures of psychological functioning was evaluated in 314 boys and 253 girls with a mean age of 9 years. Anthropometric evaluations and standardized surveys were administered to students in all four-grade classes of seven suburban schools in the fall of two consecutive school years. Increases in body mass index were significantly associated with unfavorable changes in physical activity attitudes, activity preferences, perceived physical activity competence, self-concept, and body image. There was limited support for a hypothesis that overweight children are more sensitive to changes in body shape than non-overweight children. The finding of negative psychological consequences associated with increases in body mass index among children suggests that children may be overconcerned with body weight and shape.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Effect of weak electromagnetic fields on body image perception in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Cerebellar ataxia is one of the most disabling symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and also one of the least responsive to pharmacotherapy. However, cerebellar symptoms often improve dramatically in MS patients by brief, extracerebral applications of picotesla flux electromagnetic fields (EMFs). This report concerns two MS patients with chronic disabling ataxia who experienced rapid improvement in gait and balance after receiving a series of treatments with EMFs. To assess whether improvement in cerebellar gait is accompanied by changes in body image perception, a parietal lobe function, both patients were administered the Human Figure Drawing Test before and after a series of brief treatments with EMFs. Prior to application of EMFs these patients' free drawings of a person showed a figure with a wide-based stance characteristic of cerebellar ataxia. After receiving a series of EMFs treatments both patients demonstrated a change in body image perception with the drawings of the human figure showing a normal stance. These findings demonstrate that in MS improvement in cerebellar symptoms by pulsed applications of picotesla EMFs is associated with changes in the body image.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Bulimic symptomatology, body-image, and personality characteristics of university men.

This study examined the relationships, using regression analysis, among bulimic symptomatology, body-image characteristics, and personality factors in a nonclinical sample of 46 undergraduate university men. They completed the Bulimia Test-Revised (a measure of bulimic symptomatology), the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (a measure of personality characteristics), and the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (a multidimensional measure of body-image parameters). Statistically significant relationships were identified among Appearance Evaluation, Neuroticism, and Psychoticism, and the BULIT-R scores.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

The influence of fashion magazines on the body image satisfaction of college women: an exploratory analysis.

This study examined the impact of exposure to fashion magazines on women's body image satisfaction. Participants were 39 undergraduate women, randomly assigned to two experimental conditions: half viewed fashion magazines prior to completing a body image satisfaction survey, and the remaining half, news magazines. Mean height and weight did not differ for the two groups. As hypothesized, women who viewed fashion magazines preferred to weigh less, were less satisfied with their bodies, were more frustrated about their weight, were more preoccupied with the desire to be thin, and were more afraid of getting fat than were their peers who viewed news magazines.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Hemispheric differences in body image in anorexia nervosa.

OBJECTIVE: This study tested the hypothesis that women with anorexia nervosa (AN) have an inappropriately fatter body image in the left cerebral hemisphere (LH) than in the right cerebral hemisphere (RH). METHOD: Women with AN symptomatology were compared with thin controls in a divided visual field experiment. Distorted and undistorted pictures of their own and someone else's body were flashed briefly in the left and right visual fields. Participants judged the pictures as thinner than, equal to, or fatter than the actual body size. RESULTS: The AN participants judged a higher proportion of fatter distortions as equal to their own size. They responded faster when stimuli were presented initially to the LH than when they were presented initially to the RH. In contrast, fewer thinner distortions were judged as equal to their own body size, and were judged more slowly, on LH trials than on RH trials. Controls did not show hemispheric differences when judging their own body and AN participants did not show hemispheric differences when judging pictures of somebody else. Additional analyses revealed that these findings were carried entirely by a subgroup who had AN in the past, not by the subgroup who currently had AN. DISCUSSION: The brain lateralization paradigm may prove useful in understanding body image disturbance in AN patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Body image treatment for weight concerned smokers: a pilot study.

In this pilot project, 41 female weight-concerned smokers were randomly assigned to receive either 12 group sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy for body image concerns or 12 group sessions for weight management. All subjects received open-label bupropion SR, 300 mg daily, exercise instruction, and weekly behavioral counseling for tobacco cessation. At week 12, 7(35%) of the body image participants had 7-day point prevalence smoking abstinence, compared to 5(24%) of the participants in the weight management group (p=0.505).

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An artist's perspective on body image, the media, and contemporary society.

The purpose of The Body Image Project is to help in the fight to change the way we look at ourselves and at others. By using the human body as subject matter, I am trying to focus on aesthetic appreciation of the human form and to deal with self-worth by exploring the concept of beauty. Unfortunately, our culture has become obsessed with the image and keeping up appearances. Furthermore, we are letting the so-called beauty industry and corporate America define reality for us, and encouraging body hatred is an extremely lucrative business. But there are more valid and health-promoting ways to define beauty and reality. We must educate ourselves to recognize that advertising is not a slice of reality. We need to quit giving other people permission to define who we are and what we are worth. We need to begin to see healthy bodies as the ideal, and we need to make clear that good health is not defined by size; it is a state of physical, mental, and social well-being. Change can happen, but it will take a concerted effort by many people. This project needs your help.

Advertising↗
PubMed2004

Human figure drawing size and body image in preschool children from a self-physique perspective.

To learn about the relationship between size of human figure drawings and the physiques of children, we investigated body image characteristics in childhood by using the Human Figure Drawing test. Height, weight, Kaup Index (a body mass index for children) and Human Figure Drawing traits (vertical height, horizontal width, waist size, surface area of head, surface area of the self-drawing) were measured for drawings of 122 4- to 6-yr.-old children (62 boys, 60 girls). Analysis showed that boys, who are physically larger than girls, produced self-drawings with somewhat larger surface areas. For vertical height of self-drawings of boys, 4-yr.-olds characteristically made taller self-drawings than 5-yr.-olds. While we hypothesized that taller children would make vertically taller self-drawings, we observed a negative relationship between children's physical height and the vertical height of the self-drawings. 4-yr.-old boys showed the most interest in their own physical height, making taller drawings and in doing so gave a clue to an early childhood feature of body image.

Body Image↗
PubMed1996

Eating disturbance and body image: a comparison of a community sample of adult black and white women.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined racial differences in eating disorder symptomatology in a community-based sample of middle-aged adult Black and White women and investigated predictors of body image dissatisfaction in these two different racial groups, since most research has focused on young adult White women. METHOD: Subjects (538 Black and White women) completed the Eating Disorder Inventory and measures of social pressures about thinness and negative attitudes about overweight. RESULTS: Black and White women reported comparable levels of eating disturbance. However, after controlling for degree of overweight, White women had significantly greater rates of body dissatisfaction than Black women. Nonetheless, both racial groups reported considerable body image dissatisfaction and similar factors were found to predict body dissatisfaction for Black and White women. DISCUSSION: Our data and other recent data indicate that eating disturbance occurs across a much broader age, race, and socioeconomic distribution than previously suspected. Research implications are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Body image after bilateral prophylactic mastectomy: an integrative literature review.

Bilateral prophylactic mastectomy (BPM) can reduce a woman's risk for breast cancer by 80%. Thus, women who are at high risk for familial breast cancer are increasingly opting for BPM as a preventative option. Research indicates that there are psychological benefits to BPM, including a reduction in anxiety about developing breast cancer. The purpose of this integrative review is to summarize the research that has examined the effect of prophylactic mastectomy on women's subsequent body image. Thirteen studies were reviewed. The majority of women were satisfied with their decision. However, the majority of studies indicate that up to one-half of the women suffer a negative effect on body image and changes in sexuality. Knowledge of these findings can improve the practitioner's ability to counsel women regarding this radical decision. Further research, particularly prospective studies, are needed to examine women's body image prior to BPM so that the impact of prophylactic mastectomy can be examined more thoroughly.

Body Image↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Body image changes associated with dual-chamber pacemaker insertion in women.

PURPOSE: The study's purpose was to examine body image changes in subjects participating in a long-term multicenter pacemaker trial. METHODS: At study closeout, 383 adults, all of whom had received a dual-chamber pacemaker, completed questionnaires evaluating what effect their pacemaker or pacemaker site and scar had on them or their spouses or significant others. RESULTS: Most reported that their pacemaker did not change the way they or their spouses or significant others felt about their body (73.2% and 93.5%, respectively). Most (87.1%) denied feeling differently because of the pacemaker site and scar. Most were not concerned how their clothes fit or about wearing a swimsuit (92.0% and 90.7%, respectively). Women were more concerned about how the pacemaker site and scar made them feel about their body (P =.001), clothes fitting (P =.002), and wearing a swimsuit (P =.004). Men were more concerned with how their spouses or significant others perceived them postimplantation (P =.021). CONCLUSIONS: Most subjects did not express undue concern about changes in body image.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Use of letter writing as a means of integrating an altered body image: a case study.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To describe the use of letter writing as a technique to assist patients in adjusting to an altered body image after dramatic cancer treatment. DATA SOURCES: Published articles and books. DATA SYNTHESIS: Gestalt therapy, psychosynthesis, and journaling techniques evolve into a technique that can assist patients who are challenged to accept altered body parts. CONCLUSIONS: Described in a case study presentation, letter writing was found to assist female patients with recurrent breast cancer in adjusting to reconstruction of lost breasts. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Nurses can use letter writing as a means of assisting patients through the grief process associated with body image alterations.

Adult↗