Dissonance-Based Eating Disorder Preventive Intervention and Attentional Biases in Body-Dissatisfied University Women: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Tobin, Leah Nicole

Dissonance-Based Eating Disorder Preventive Intervention and Attentional Biases in Body-Dissatisfied University Women: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

dc.contributor.advisor	von Ranson, Kristin M.
dc.contributor.author	Tobin, Leah Nicole
dc.contributor.committeemember	Konnert, Candace A.
dc.contributor.committeemember	Sears, Christopher R.
dc.date	2020-06
dc.date.accessioned	2020-01-31T22:35:55Z
dc.date.available	2020-01-31T22:35:55Z
dc.date.issued	2020-01-29
dc.description.abstract	Body dissatisfaction is associated with maladaptive attentional biases theorized to contribute to the development of eating disorders. The Body Project is a cognitive dissonance-based preventive intervention that reduces body dissatisfaction and other eating disorder risk factors. It is unknown whether Body Project participation reduces attentional biases associated with body dissatisfaction. This question is important given attempts to reduce such maladaptive attentional biases have been largely unsuccessful in past research. Additionally, research has yet to examine Body Project participation’s effects on body appreciation in university women, an at-risk demographic, which is important because research has shown body appreciation to protect women from negative effects of media exposure. We evaluated the efficacy of Body Project participation in reducing attentional biases and self-reported outcomes, including body appreciation, via a cluster randomized controlled trial. A sample of 168 body-dissatisfied university women were randomized to: Body Project, Media Psychoeducation (active control), or Waitlist control condition. An additional 64 body-satisfied university women completed assessments only to examine whether a subset of the current sample replicated past attentional bias findings. Outcome data were collected at Baseline, post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up. Attention was assessed via eye-tracking and additional outcomes via questionnaires. Results showed that, as hypothesized, Body Project participation reduced attention to images of “thin” models compared to Waitlist, but not for weight-related words. It also led to improved body appreciation compared to Waitlist, and replicated self-report outcomes in the literature, although effects were not seen at 1-month follow-up. Together, results indicate Body Project participation’s effects extend to cognitive processes suggesting an avenue to reduce maladaptive attentional biases, and that Body Project participation’s effects on body appreciation extend to university women. The Media Psychoeducation condition performed similarly on several outcomes as the Body Project condition, including some attentional biases, suggesting media literacy programs may be a viable alternative to reduce several eating disorder risk factors. Future studies should examine whether effects on attention are sustained at follow up, and components analyses are needed to determine the program’s active ingredients for various outcomes.	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Tobin, L. N. (2020). Dissonance-Based Eating Disorder Preventive Intervention and Attentional Biases in Body-Dissatisfied University Women: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.	en_US
dc.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/37544
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1880/111600
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.publisher.faculty	Arts	en_US
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary	en
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.	en_US
dc.subject	dissonance	en_US
dc.subject	the Body Project	en_US
dc.subject	prevention	en_US
dc.subject	eating disorders	en_US
dc.subject	attention	en_US
dc.subject	eye-tracking	en_US
dc.subject	body appreciation	en_US
dc.subject	body dissatisfaction	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Psychology--Clinical	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Psychology--Cognitive	en_US
dc.title	Dissonance-Based Eating Disorder Preventive Intervention and Attentional Biases in Body-Dissatisfied University Women: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial	en_US
dc.type	doctoral thesis	en_US
thesis.degree.discipline	Psychology – Clinical	en_US
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary	en_US
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)	en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopy	true	en_US