A prospective study of factors that lead to body dissatisfaction during pregnancy

This study examined changes in body image and predictors of body dissatisfaction during pregnancy. It was expected that higher levels of depression, social comparison tendencies, teasing, societal pressure to be thin and public self-consciousness would predict body dissatisfaction prospectively. Healthy pregnant women (n = 128) completed questionnaires on three occasions during their pregnancies reporting on a total of four time points: 3 months prior to pregnancy (retrospectively reported), in the early to mid-second trimester, the late-second/early-third trimester, and the latter part of the third trimester. For the most part women reported adapting to the changes that occurred in their body; however, women were most likely to experience higher levels of body dissatisfaction in early to mid-second trimester. Findings related to predictors of body dissatisfaction revealed that both social and psychological factors contributed to body image changes in pregnancy. Implications of the findings are discussed.

A comparison of the socio-cultural influences on body size perceptions and values among European Australian and Indigenous Fijian adolescent girls

Western women are experiencing increases in the prevalence of overweight and obesity despite valuing slimness as ideal and equating thinness with attractiveness and beauty. Pacific populations are also experiencing high prevalence rates of overweight and obesity. A lage body size, however, has many positive connotations among pacific populations that stem from rich cultural practices such as feasts and deliberate fattening of women. There appears to be many sociocultural factors however, such as images of the slim ideal portrayed in Western media, influencing body image concerns that are shared between the two groups. A qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews was conducted to examine and compare the sociocultural influences on body size perceptionsand values. Participants include 16 European Australian and 16 Indigenous Fijian adolescent girls aged between 15 and 17 years. Inductive thematic analysis and analytical induction were qualitativemethods employed to facilitate interpretation of the findings. Preliminary findings suggest that Fijian adolescent girls experience greater conflict than European Australian girls about the desired body size endorsed in their community. Results also suggest that Indigenous Fijian girls place less importance than Australian girls on manipulating their body to achieve a specific ideal. Specific results of this study are reviewed and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Sexuality, body esteem and physical disability

The thesis investigated sexuality and body esteem in people with physical disabilities and developed a psychometrically valid measure to assess these dimensions. Physical disability was associated with significant psychological challenges, sexual and body dissatisfaction and limited opportunities for sexual relationships. The thesis highlighted the importance of sexuality for physically disabled people.

Actual/ideal body images of high school girls and how it affects their self-esteem : implications for educational and clinical institutions

Given that adolescence is a critical period for the development of a positive self-concept and body image, it is imperative that educators have an understanding of adolescent students' body image and their dieting practises and behaviours. Negative body image is an issue that is rife within the adolescent student population in Australia and around the world, and is a factor that is commonly associated with and linked to disturbed eating behaviours and chronic eating disorders like Anorexia Nervosa (AN). Despite the intuitive appeal and importance of investigating adolescents' body image in terms of what adolescents would like to look like and what they think that they look like now, very little research has investigated these concepts. Furthermore, very little research has explored whether there is a difference between these two constructs how this may affect adolescents' self-esteem. This study therefore aimed to explore the actual and ideal body images of adolescent high school girls aged between 12 and 18 years in two samples of adolescents, one with eating disorders (n=76, clinical sample) and one without (n=823 high school sample). Additionally, this study investigates these constructs in relation to self-esteem levels. The results of this study have important implications for educators and clinicians within educational and clinical settings.

An evaluation of equivalence in body dissatisfaction measurement across cultures

We evaluated gender-based and cross-cultural equivalence of the Body Dissatisfaction Scale of the Body Change Inventory in a sample of 4,005 adolescents from 7 cultures that represent diverse body image ideals and response styles. Results of multigroup confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated equivalence of the scale across gender but not across cultures. Follow-up analyses identified small but significant cross-cultural differences in response styles (specifically, acquiescence and middle response option endorsement) as the source of this noninvariance. We recommend use of this scale for gender-based comparisons but caution that researchers should evaluate the presence of response biases before making substantive conclusions about cross-cultural differences in body dissatisfaction.

Intergenerational differences in food, physical activity, and body size perceptions among African migrants

We assessed intergenerational differences in food, physical activity, and body size perceptions among refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa living in Victoria, Australia. We used a qualitative design and obtained data from 48 participants (18 individual interviews; 3 semistructured focus groups). Three major themes emerged: (a) food and physical activity, (b) preference of body size and social expectations, and (c) perceived consequences of various body sizes. For parents, large body size was perceived to equate with being beautiful and wealthy; slimness was associated with chronic illness and poverty. Parents adopted strategies that promoted weight gain in children. These included tailored food practices and restricting children’s involvement in physical activity. For young people, slimness was the ideal body size endorsed by their peers, and they adopted strategies to resist parental pressure to gain weight. Obesity-prevention programs in this subpopulation need to adopt a multigenerational approach.

Cultural influences on body dissatisfaction, body change behaviours and disordered eating of Japanese adolescents

We administered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire to 133 female and 99 male Japanese high school students 13–18 years old (M = 15.9, SD = 1.57) from the Kansai area to examine cultural influences on their body image and body change behaviours. Our aim was to ascertain the independent and combined influences from traditional Japanese, modern Japanese, and Western values. Cluster analyses identified four ‘acculturative’ groups: ‘anti-modern’, ‘traditional’, ‘pro-modern/anti-traditional’, and ‘pro-Western/anti-Japanese’. Pro-modern and pro-Western adolescents were most dissatisfied with their bodies, and pro-Western adolescents were also most likely to attempt weight loss. The results demonstrate the value of assessing cultural interactions in Japan along three dimensions.

Brief report : maltreatment in childhood and body concerns in adulthood

Objective: We examined the relationship between maltreatment in childhood and body concerns in adulthood.

Method: A community sample of 156 women and 143 men completed measures of maltreatment – frequency of sexual abuse, physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse and emotional neglect – in childhood. They also reported current dissatisfaction with body weight and shape and drive for thinness and drive for muscle.

Results and conclusions: Childhood maltreatment was associated with drive for muscle in women and body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness in men. The results provide some evidence that adverse conditions in childhood can be associated with gender-atypical body concerns in adulthood.

The role of cultural values and religion on views of body size and eating practices among adolescents from Fiji, Tonga and Australia

Objectives This study investigated cultural values related to body image and eating practices in Western and non-Western societies.

Design and Methods In total, 628 Fijian, 463 Indo-Fijian, 598 Tongan, and 534 Australian adolescents completed measures of cultural values and religious influences in relation to the ideal body and eating practices.

Results Fijian and Tongan adolescents were more likely to value a large body. Religious influences were most strongly associated with eating practices for Fijians, Indo-Fijians, and Tongans.

Conclusions The findings support the role of religion in transmitting cultural values regarding eating practices in Pacific Island communities.

Statement of contribution
What is already known on this subject? Previous research has demonstrated that sociocultural factors shape body image and eating behaviours. Most of this research has been conducted in Western countries.

What does this study add? The current study identifies the role of cultural values and religious influences on body image and eating behaviours in a number of different cultural groups. This is the first study to use the same methodology to explore these relationships across Western and Pacific Island communities.

A comparison of the psychological outcomes of cosmetic surgical procedures

Studies of psychological outcomes of cosmetic surgery generally provide low standards of evidence due to significant methodological limitations and few studies have explored the outcomes of surgery types other than breast reduction or have compared post-operative outcomes for different surgery types. This study therefore aimed to explore the psychological outcomes and post-operative satisfaction of cosmetic surgery and compare the outcomes and satisfaction of participants undergoing different procedures.

Surveys were administered to a sample of 142 elective cosmetic surgery patients prior to surgery and six months after surgery. The surveys included standardised measures of body image (appearance evaluation, appearance orientation, body areas satisfaction), self-esteem, and mental health (psychiatric disturbance, anxiety, depression, dysmorphic concerns).

The findings revealed high rates of post-operative satisfaction and significant improvements in several dimensions of body image (appearance evaluation and body area satisfaction) and mental health (anxiety, depression, and dysmorphic concerns), but not self-esteem. Breast augmentation patients reported significantly higher improvement on appearance evaluation, significantly higher ratings of how likely they thought it was that they had achieved, or would achieve, what they were looking for in having the procedure, and a trend to report that the overall result of surgery was better than or as expected than rhinoplasty patients.

It is recommended that future research clarifies the degree to which self-esteem and indices of mental health improve after cosmetic surgery and fully establishes the impact of different procedures on psychological outcomes.

Is body dysmorphic disorder associated with abnormal bodily self-awareness? A study using the rubber hand illusion.

Evidence from past research suggests that behaviours and characteristics related to body dissatisfaction may be associated with greater instability of perceptual body image, possibly due to problems in the integration of body-related multisensory information. We investigated whether people with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a condition characterised by body image disturbances, demonstrated enhanced susceptibility to the rubber hand illusion (RHI), which arises as a result of multisensory integration processes when a rubber hand and the participant's hidden real hand are stimulated in synchrony. Overall, differences in RHI experience between the BDD group and healthy and schizophrenia control groups (n = 17 in each) were not significant. RHI strength, however, was positively associated with body dissatisfaction and related tendencies. For the healthy control group, proprioceptive drift towards the rubber hand was observed following synchronous but not asynchronous stimulation, a typical pattern when inducing the RHI. Similar drifts in proprioceptive awareness occurred for the BDD group irrespective of whether stimulation was synchronous or not. These results are discussed in terms of possible abnormalities in visual processing and multisensory integration among people with BDD.

Self-esteem mediates the associations among negative affect, body disturbances, and interpersonal problems in treatment-seeking obese individuals

Background: This study investigated the relationship among negative affect, body image disturbances (BID), and interpersonal problems, and the mediating effect of self-esteem in a group of treatment-seeking obese individuals. Methods: Four hundred twenty-two obese patients (85 males and 337 females) completed standardised measures that assessed negative affect, BID, self-esteem, and interpersonal problems. Results: Structural equation modelling showed that obese individuals with greater negative affect and BID reported higher interpersonal problems and that self-esteem mediated the relationships among negative affect, BID, and interpersonal problems. Conclusions: The mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between interpersonal functioning and psychological distress needs to be considered when selecting psychologically based interventions that aim to improve the well-being of treatment-seeking obese patients. © 2014 The Australian Psychological Society.