The "Little Red Riding Hood effect:" Fitspiration is just as bad as thinspiration for women's body satisfaction.

Fitspiration is a popular form of social media which outwardly promotes the pursuit of health and strength rather than of thinness. Content analyses, however, suggest that it is thematically similar to thinspiration, which is primarily associated with thinness and presents disordered eating as a lifestyle choice. Exposure to both reduces body satisfaction, but their effect has not been compared. Further, positive body image may act as a protective factor by reducing engagement in appearance comparisons. Female undergraduate students (N = 331) were randomly assigned to view fitspiration, thinspiration, or travel images, followed by measures of state body satisfaction, state appearance comparison, and positive body image. Viewing fitspiration and thinspiration resulted in lower body satisfaction than did viewing travel images. However, whereas women with higher positive body image appeared protected from thinspiration by engaging in lower appearance comparisons than did women with lower positive body image, this same effect was not observed in women who viewed fitspiration. The fact that positive body image is not protective against fitspiration suggests that fitspiration is just as harmful, if not more, than is thinspiration and highlights the need for media literacy programs targeting fitspiration and so-called "healthy living" websites.

Appearance investment: The construct that changed the field of body image.

In the mid-1990s, Thomas F. Cash developed the construct of appearance investment and an instrument to measure it, the Appearance Schemas Inventory (ASI). This was followed by a significant revision of this measure, the ASI-R. This instrument distinguished two dimensions to appearance investment, one referring to engagement in behaviours meant to improve appearance esthetics, and one referring to the importance of appearance for self-definition. The construct of appearance investment and its measurement gave rise to a new area of research that widened our understanding of body image beyond the ubiquitous construct of satisfaction. In this paper, we review the literature on appearance investment and offer conclusions based on the different study designs in which either the ASI or ASI-R were used. This is followed by general conclusions about the current state of the research on appearance investment, and future directions to improve our understanding of the factors contributing to the development of excessive investment in appearance.

The Body Appreciation Scale-2: Item interpretation and sensitivity to priming.

The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely-used measure of positive body image. Items are worded ambiguously to allow reference to any aspect of the body during measure completion. We examined (a) how BAS-2 items are interpreted and whether this interpretation is influenced by the content of measures administered prior to it, (b) whether measures administered prior to the BAS-2 alter its scores or (c) the correlation between BAS-2 scores and scores on a measure of body dissatisfaction, (d) how BAS-2 item interpretation relates to total scores, and (e) whether BAS-2 scores are associated with investment in appearance for aesthetic purposes. Canadian female undergraduates (N = 392) completed one of four priming questionnaires, followed by the BAS-2, and then indicated how they interpreted each BAS-2 item. Most items were interpreted in terms of appearance, with the primes having no impact on item interpretation, scores, or the magnitude of the correlation with body dissatisfaction. BAS-2 scores were highest among women interpreting a moderate number of items in terms of appearance and negatively correlated with investment for aesthetic purposes. Thus, the BAS-2 is not vulnerable to priming, but among young Western women, items are likely to be interpreted in terms of appearance.

Interpersonal rejection results in increased appearance satisfaction for women who rely on body weight for self-worth.

This study examined whether body weight contingent self-worth (BWCSW), the tendency to base self-worth on body weight, moderates the effects of interpersonal rejection on self-esteem and body satisfaction. In an online survey, female undergraduates (N=148) completed measures of trait self-esteem, depression, and BWCSW. In a subsequent lab session, participants were assigned to either an interpersonal rejection or to a neutral control condition, after which they completed measures of state self-esteem and body satisfaction. Compared to women with lower BWCSW, women with higher BWCSW reported lower appearance self-esteem (p=.001) and body satisfaction (p=.004) across conditions. However, they reacted to rejection by reporting greater appearance self-esteem (p=.034) and body satisfaction (p=.021). Rejection had no effect on women with lower BWCSW. The reaction of women with higher BWCSW is interpreted as a compensatory self-enhancement response to interpersonal rejection within a self-important domain.

Holding fat stereotypes is associated with lower body dissatisfaction in normal weight Caucasian women who engage in body surveillance.

This study examined the moderating effect of body surveillance on the relationship between fat stereotype endorsement and body dissatisfaction in normal weight women. Participants (N=225) completed online measures of fat stereotyping, body surveillance, body dissatisfaction, and internalized thin ideals. After accounting for thin ideals, body surveillance moderated the relationship between fat stereotypes and body dissatisfaction. Contrary to hypotheses, higher fat stereotype endorsement predicted lower body dissatisfaction in women with higher body surveillance. Conversely, higher fat stereotype endorsement predicted greater body dissatisfaction in women with lower body surveillance. Thus, endorsing fat stereotypes appears protective against body dissatisfaction in normal weight women who extensively engage in body surveillance. For women who hold fat stereotypes and report high body surveillance, we propose that downward appearance comparison may create a contrast between themselves and the people with overweight whom they denigrate, thus improving body dissatisfaction.

Appearance investment mediates the association between fear of negative evaluation and dietary restraint.

This study investigated whether appearance investment explains the association between fear of negative evaluation and dietary restraint. Data were collected from 305 undergraduate female participants in an online survey. Mediation analyses were conducted using Preacher and Hayes (2008) Indirect Mediation macro. Results showed that both components of appearance investment that is, holding appearance as central to self-definition and the tendency to engage in appearance management behaviours, mediate the association between fear of negative evaluation and dietary restraint. The Baron and Kenny (1986) method further showed that holding appearance as central to self-definition fully mediates this association but that engagement in appearance management behaviours only partially mediates it. These results suggest that appearance investment could prompt women to diet to try to lose weight to fend off feared negative evaluation from others.

The paradoxical moderating effect of body image investment on the impact of weight-based derogatory media.

Weight-based derogatory media consist of derogation of celebrities for failing to meet the thin ideal. This study examined the impact of weight-based derogatory media on women's body satisfaction, appearance self-esteem, fear of negative appearance evaluation, and negative affect. Female undergraduates (N=240) were exposed to either tabloid-style pictures and articles derogating average size celebrities for gaining weight, or to the same images accompanied by neutral information. Women in the derogation condition reported greater fear of negative appearance evaluation than did women in the neutral media condition. Contrary to predictions, women low in maladaptive body image investment reported lower body satisfaction and appearance self-esteem in the derogatory media condition than they did in the neutral condition, while women high in maladaptive investment did not differ across conditions. Highly invested women's unexpected reaction may be understood as a defence against a threat to a valued domain of the self.

Personalized and not general suggestion produces false autobiographical memories and suggestion-consistent behavior.

Suggesting false childhood events produces false autobiographical beliefs, memories and suggestion-consistent behavior. The mechanisms by which suggestion affects behavior are not understood, and whether false beliefs and memories are necessary for suggestions to impact behavior remains unexplored. We examined the relative effects of providing a personalized suggestion (suggesting that an event occurred to the person in the past), and/or a general suggestion (suggesting that an event happened to others in the past). Participants (N=122) received a personalized suggestion, a general suggestion, both or neither, about childhood illness due to spoiled peach yogurt. The personalized suggestion resulted in false beliefs, false memories, and suggestion-consistent behavioral intentions immediately after the suggestion. One week or one month later participants completed a taste test that involved eating varieties of crackers and yogurts. The personalized suggestion led to reduced consumption of only peach yogurt, and those who reported a false memory showed the most eating suppression. This effect on behavior was equally strong after one week and one month, showing a long lived influence of the personalized suggestion. The general suggestion showed no effects. Suggestions that convey personal information about a past event produce false autobiographical memories, which in turn impact behavior.

Efficacy of two versions of emotion-focused therapy for resolving child abuse trauma.

This study evaluated and compared emotion-focused therapy for trauma (EFTT) with imaginal confrontation (IC) of perpetrators (n=20) and EFTT with empathic exploration (EE) of trauma material (n=25). Clients were women and men with histories of different types of childhood maltreatment (emotional, physical, and sexual abuse; emotional neglect). Clients were randomly assigned to treatment condition. Outcome measures assessed symptom distress, self and interpersonal problems, and abuse resolution. Results indicated statistically and clinically significant improvements on eight measures at posttest, maintenance of gains at follow-up, and no statistically significant differences between conditions. There were higher rates of clinically significant change in IC and a lower attrition rate for EE (7% vs. 20%). More severe personality pathology negatively influenced some dimensions of outcome, particularly in EE.

Core conflictual relationship theme--guided psychotherapy: Initial effectiveness study of a 16-session manualized approach in a sample of six patients.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effectiveness of a manualized, 16-sessions, core conflictual relationship theme (CCRT)-based treatment. DESIGN: Treatment effects were assessed for statistical and clinical significance in a pre- and post-therapy design. METHODS: Six patients seeking help mostly for interpersonal difficulties received CCRT-based psychotherapy. The therapists were six supervised doctoral students. An average of four assessment sessions and one goal-setting session preceded 16 sessions of psychotherapy consisting mainly of interpretive work focused on one CCRT. Patients completed measures of general and treatment specific outcome indicators at the beginning and the end of therapy. Alliance measures were completed by patients after each session. RESULTS: The alliance was strong and the treatment had high credibility. Parametric and non-parametric tests showed that patients significantly improved on the general measures of self-esteem, symptomatic distress, anxiety, and depression, as well as on the treatment specific measures of interpersonal functioning, use of immature defences, and CCRT-associated subjective discomfort, with large effect sizes. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results suggest that this manualized, CCRT-based, treatment produces general and approach specific improvements. Replication is needed to ascertain its effectiveness with a larger sample size and within a controlled design.

Investment in body image for self-definition results in greater vulnerability to the thin media than does investment in appearance management.

This study investigated the effect of thin images according to two dimensions of body-image (BI) investment. Ninety-five females were classified as high or low investors based on the Appearance Schemas Inventory-Revised Self-Evaluative Salience (SES) and Motivational Salience (MS) subscales. Participants viewed advertisements portraying either the thin ideal or products. Results indicated that both women high in SES and MS reported lowered appearance self-esteem but greater BI importance following thin exposures. However, only the high SES group reported greater BI dissatisfaction and importance of current-ideal discrepancies after seeing thin images. Although highly invested women (regardless of their motivation for investment) are more responsive to thin media images than are women low in investment, those invested for self-definition are affected on more dimensions than are those invested for appearance management.

Suggesting childhood food illness results in reduced eating behavior.

Previous studies have shown that suggesting childhood events can influence current self-reported attitudes towards future behavior. This study shows that suggesting a false past event (i.e. becoming sick on a specific food during childhood) can modify present behavior (i.e. reduce eating of the food). Participants screened to be normal eaters received or did not receive a suggestion that they likely became sick on spoiled peach yogurt as a child. One week later they took part in an allegedly separate marketing taste-test study, during which they rated preferences for a variety of crackers and yogurts. After completing ratings, participants were invited to freely eat the remaining food while completing questionnaires. Results revealed that the participants receiving the suggestion expressed lower preference specifically for peach yogurt, and ate less yogurt of all the types, while not differing in eating of crackers. These results demonstrate that suggesting false past events influences subsequent behavior.

Self-esteem threat combined with exposure to thin media images leads to body image compensatory self-enhancement.

This study examined the effect of a self-esteem threat combined with exposure to thin images on body image (BI) satisfaction and investment. Female participants (N=94) received a self-esteem threat consisting of false failure feedback or received false success feedback on an intellectual task allegedly highly predictive of academic and professional success. They then viewed media images featuring thin models or products. After viewing thin models, women who had received failure feedback declared themselves more satisfied about their appearance and less invested in it than did women who had received success feedback. These results suggest that exposure to the thin ideal may inspire women experiencing self-esteem threats to use appearance as an alternative source of worth, thus maintaining their global esteem through BI compensatory self-enhancement. Potential long-term implications of this strategy, such as a paradoxical increase in BI investment and the development of eating pathology, are discussed.

The effectiveness of stand-alone cognitive-behavioural therapy for body image: a meta-analysis.

This meta-analysis examined the effectiveness of stand-alone body image (BI) cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). Nineteen studies met inclusion criteria. The behavioural dimension of BI improves most after BI CBT while the investment dimension improves the least. Individuals with clinical BI disturbances improve more than do college student samples. Treatments addressing the attitudinal, behavioural, and perceptual components of BI are more effective than treatments addressing attitude and behaviour only. Therapist-assisted therapy is more effective than is self-directed therapy. BI variables improve somewhat more than do general psychological variables, while the latter show equivalent improvement. Finally, treatment gains are maintained at follow-up. More research is needed to better understand and treat the investment dimension of BI.

Characteristics and effectiveness of stand-alone body image treatments: a review of the empirical literature.

This literature review examined the characteristics and effectiveness of treatments dedicated exclusively to body image. A total of 18 studies met selection criteria. All but one involved at least one cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) condition and only three compared CBT to another treatment approach. Twelve studies were conducted with non-clinical, body dissatisfied, participants and only one focussed on eating disordered women. Overall, the interventions were highly effective in improving body image and psychological variables and, to a lesser extent, eating attitude and behaviour. Changes were generally maintained at follow-up. Given their efficacy, more controlled trials of stand-alone body image treatments in clinical populations are needed. Investigating approaches other than CBT may open fruitful avenues of body image treatment.