Mother/Daughter Positive

Body Image Intervention

Jessica Hocking
WHAT IS POSITIVE BODY IMAGE?
➤ Not just a lack of body dissatisfaction
➤ Multiple domains (Wood-Barcalow, Tylka; Augustus-Horvath
2010):
➤

➤ Unique beauty and functionality of one’s body

➤ Filtering information (e.g., appearance commentary, media
ideals) in a body-protective manner
➤ Defining beauty broadly
➤ Highlighting assets while minimizing body’s flaws
➤ Referred to by both “body appreciation” and “positive body image”
in the literature.
➤

➤ Some questions about whether this is a complete

operationalization
WHAT IS POSITIVE BODY IMAGE?
➤ Not just a lack of body dissatisfaction, but they are on the same
spectrum

Neutral/Apathetic Body Image

Body Dissatisfaction Positive Body Image

“Just as happiness is more complex than the absence of

depression,
positive body image is more complex than the absence of body
dissatisfaction”
(Gillen, 2015, p. 67).
DEVELOPMENTAL PATHWAYS: RISK
AND
➤ PROTECTIVE
Body image FACTORS
development is influenced by a myriad of factors - there
is no single cause.
➤

➤ Utilizing DP perspective is especially prudent.

➤ Individual differences
➤

➤ Girls tend to have poorer body image than boys (e.g., Frisén and
Holmqvist, 2010a).
➤

➤ Elite female athletes

➤ Higher Body Mass Index in adolescent girls led to greater levels
of body dissatisfaction (Barker & Galambos, 2003).
➤ Early puberty is a risk factor
➤ Personality characteristics (Swami, Hadji-Michael, & Furnham,
2008).
➤
DEVELOPMENTAL PATHWAYS: RISK
AND
➤CulturalPROTECTIVE
factors FACTORS
➤

➤ Living in a western country is a major risk factor (Grogan &

Wainwright, 1996) due to the thin-ideal put forth by the media.
➤ Many body image scholars think these sociocultural factors are
the primary root cause of body dissatisfaction
➤ Social factors
➤

➤ Peer influences
➤

➤ Perceived body acceptance by others (Andrew, Tiggeman, &

Clark, 2016a)
➤

➤ Mediated by self-objectification and social appearance

DEVELOPMENTAL PATHWAYS: RISK
AND
➤FamilialPROTECTIVE
Factors FACTORS
➤

➤ Key risk factor is having a mother with body dissatisfaction.

Specific mechanisms include:
➤

➤ Criticism from mother

➤ Poor role-modeling
➤ Maladaptive mother/daughter fat talk
➤ Direct instructions to lose weight
➤ Psychological control
➤ Positive findings
➤

➤ Maternal acceptance linked with lower levels of body

DEVELOPMENTAL PATHWAYS: RISK
AND
➤Maor &PROTECTIVE FACTORS
Cwikel (2016) interviewed 28 mother/daughter dyads on
their strategies to help guide their daughters to positive body image.
Five specific mechanisms emerged:
➤

➤ “filtering – being cautious and sensitive in communicating about

body image issues,
➤ transmitting awareness of the dangers of eating disorders,
➤ positive reinforcement – providing affirmations in regard to
daughters’ bodies;
➤ discussion – providing tools for criticism of the dominant body-
related social discourse; and
➤ positivity – shifting the focus from food, body-size and weight
loss to making healthy choices and taking pleasure in food”
(Maor & Cwikel, 2016, p. 11).
DEVELOPMENTAL CASCADES OF
BODY
➤ IMAGE
Positive body image has been linked with:
➤

➤ Mental Health Outcomes

➤

➤ Lower levels of thin ideal internalization and other negative

media effects (Halliwell, 2013)
➤ Lower levels of depression
➤ Higher levels of self esteem (Gillen, 2015)
DEVELOPMENTAL CASCADES OF
BODY
➤ IMAGE
Positive body image has been linked with:
➤

➤ Adaptive health outcomes

➤

➤ Higher levels of intuitive eating

➤

➤ eating “in response to internal cues and not in response to difficult emotions or distress. Those
who eat intuitively are not preoccupied with dieting and food, do not categorize food as
“forbidden,” and food choices are a reflection of preferred taste and a desire to assist the body’s
functioning” (Andrew, Tiggeman, & Clark, 2015, p. 209).

➤ Increased physical activity

➤ Higher levels of sun protection and skin cancer screening
➤ Lower levels of weight-loss behaviors (Andrew, Tiggeman, &
Clark, 2016).
➤ Increased contraceptive use (Gillen & Markey, 2019)
DEVELOPMENTAL CASCADES OF
BODY
➤ IMAGE
Body dissatisfaction has been linked with:
➤

➤ Mental Health
➤

➤ Eating disorders (American Psychological Association, 2013;

Bruch, 1962; Cash & Deagle, 1997)
➤ Depression (Kaplan, Busner, & Pollack, 1988)
➤ Anxiety (Kostanski & Gullone, 1998)
➤ Health
➤

➤ Risky sexual behavior (Larson, Clark, Robinson & Utter,

2012)
➤ Binge drinking
POSITIVE BODY IMAGE
INTERVENTIONS
➤Sundgot-Borgen et al. (2019)
➤ Implemented Healthy Body Image curriculum in 30 Norwegian high
schools (N = 2446)
➤

➤ Body Image
➤ Media Literacy
➤ Lifestyle
➤ Results: Girls in the treatment group reported…
➤

➤ Improved feelings of positive embodiment

➤ Higher levels of self-reported health
INTERVENTIONS WITH MOTHERS
➤ Corning, Gondoli, Bucchianeri, and Salafia (2010)
➤ Examined the efficacy of the Healthy Girls Project
➤

➤ Body Dissatisfaction
➤ Thin Ideal Internalization
➤ 31 mother-daughter dyads
➤ Daughters ages 12-14
➤ Results:
➤

➤ Girls felt significantly less pressure from their moms to be thin

(F(1, 28) = 8.99, p = .006)
➤ No significant differences between groups on body
dissatisfaction.
INTERVENTIONS WITH MOTHERS
➤ Diedrichs et al. (2016)
➤ Dove Self-Esteem Project Website for Parents
➤

➤ Self-esteem & Self-confidence

➤ Appearance-ideal media
➤ Appearance conversations
➤ Appearance-related teasing
➤ Modeling and interpersonal relationships
➤ Respecting and looking after yourself
➤ 235 Mother-Daughter Dyads
➤

➤ Daughters mean age = 13 (SD = .86)

➤ Results:
➤

➤ Improved self-esteem and lower rates of negative affect among

mothers and daughters
➤ Body image did not significantly differ between treatment and
INTERVENTIONS WITH MOTHERS
➤ Trost (2006), unpublished dissertation
➤ Healthy Image Partnership (HIP) Parents Program
➤

➤ Parents only (80 mothers and 1 father)

➤ Daughters ages 10-15
➤ Targeted the thin-ideal, “fat talk,” and healthy versus unhealthy
weight attitudes
➤ Results
➤

➤ Parents in the treatment group reported significantly reduced thin-

ideal internalization, bulimic symptoms, and dieting
➤ Daughters reported reductions in these areas as well, but they
were not quite significant
STUDY PROPOSAL
➤ Why intervene with mothers and daughters?
➤

➤ Interventions for many of the contributing factors of body image

development are not feasible
➤

➤ Cultural factors
➤ Peer teasing
➤ Mothers can use their influence to steer daughters toward a
positive body image
➤

➤ Role modeling, weight talk, etc.

➤ Can help daughters navigate the other contributing factors and
process them in an adaptive way
➤
STUDY PROPOSAL
➤ Mother/daughter dyads
➤ Adapted Healthy Body Image project
➤

➤ Body Image
➤ Media Literacy
➤ Lifestyle
➤ Mom/daughter relationship
➤

➤ weight talk
➤ 5 mechanisms from Maor & Cwikel article (filtering, positivity,
discussion, positive reinforcement, and emphasizing dangers
of eating disorders)
STUDY PROPOSAL
➤ Participants
➤

➤ Mother-daughter dyads from the community

➤ Goal will be to recruit 250 dyads (125 per group)
➤ Plan to recruit through schools, local community
agencies, and religious organizations through flyers
and solicitation letters
STUDY PROPOSAL
➤ Hypotheses:
➤

➤ Mothers and daughters in dyads that completed the

intervention will show:
➤

➤ higher rates of positive body image at the immediate

post-test as well as the follow-up assessments as
compared to the control group.
➤ higher levels of health:
➤

➤ higher levels of fruit and vegetable consumption and

physical exercise
➤ lower levels of cigarette and alcohol consumption
➤ exhibit lower blood pressure levels, cholesterol
STUDY PROPOSAL
➤ Measures:
➤

➤ Self-report
➤

➤ Body Appreciation Scale (Avalos et

al., 2005)
➤ Eating Disorders Inventory
(Garner, Olmsted, & Polivy, 1983)
➤

➤ Includes Body Dissatisfaction

STUDY PROPOSAL
➤ Additional measures:
➤

➤ Possible mediators
➤

Self-Compassion Scale (Raes,

➤

Pommier, Neff, & Van Gucht,

2011)
➤ Rosenburg Self-Esteem Scale

(Rosenburg, 1965)
➤ Mom/Daughter Weight Talk

➤ Objective Health Measures

STUDY PROPOSAL
➤ Longitudinal study
➤

➤ Immediate post-test, 3 month follow-up, 6-month

follow-up, 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year, 10 and 20
year follow-ups.
➤ Planned analyses
➤

➤
Repeated measures ANOVA (ANCOVA?)
DISCUSSION
➤
Should I measure BMI at each time point?