E Stice1, L Mazotti, D Weibel, W S Agras. 1. Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA. stice@psy.utexas.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Because psychoeducational primary prevention programs for eating disorders have met with little success, this preliminary experiment tested a dissonance-based targeted preventive intervention. METHOD: Female undergraduates (N = 30) with elevated body image concerns were assigned to a three-session intervention, wherein they voluntarily argued against the thin ideal, or a delayed-intervention control condition. Participants completed a baseline, termination, and a 1-month follow-up survey. RESULTS: The intervention resulted in a subsequent decrease in thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, dieting, negative affect, and bulimic symptomatology, with most changes remaining at the 1-month follow-up. DISCUSSION: These preliminary results suggest that this dissonance-based targeted prevention intervention reduces bulimic pathology and known risk factors for eating disturbances, and provide experimental support for the claim that thin-ideal internalization contributes to body dissatisfaction, dieting, negative affect, and bulimic symptoms. Copyright 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
OBJECTIVE: Because psychoeducational primary prevention programs for eating disorders have met with little success, this preliminary experiment tested a dissonance-based targeted preventive intervention. METHOD: Female undergraduates (N = 30) with elevated body image concerns were assigned to a three-session intervention, wherein they voluntarily argued against the thin ideal, or a delayed-intervention control condition. Participants completed a baseline, termination, and a 1-month follow-up survey. RESULTS: The intervention resulted in a subsequent decrease in thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, dieting, negative affect, and bulimic symptomatology, with most changes remaining at the 1-month follow-up. DISCUSSION: These preliminary results suggest that this dissonance-based targeted prevention intervention reduces bulimic pathology and known risk factors for eating disturbances, and provide experimental support for the claim that thin-ideal internalization contributes to body dissatisfaction, dieting, negative affect, and bulimic symptoms. Copyright 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.