Body dissatisfaction, rumination and attentional disengagement toward computer-generated bodies

The present study examined the associations among biased attentional responding to thin-ideal bodies, appearance comparisons, eating disorder-specific rumination, and body dissatisfaction. Sixty-seven females completed an attentional task capable of independently assessing biased attentional engagement with, and biased attentional disengagement from, images of thin-ideal bodies relative to images of non-thin bodies. Self-report measures of the other relevant constructs were also taken. Results revealed that a heightened tendency to engage in appearance comparisons was predicted by increased attentional engagement with thin-ideal bodies but not by impaired attentional disengagement from thin-ideal bodies. Moreover, a serial mediation analysis revealed that increased attentional engagement with thin-ideal bodies was associated with greater appearance comparison, which in turn was associated with greater eating disorder-specific rumination and consequently greater body dissatisfaction. The current findings suggest that increased attentional engagement with thin-ideal bodies might represent a pathway to body dissatisfaction, mediated by greater appearance comparison and eating-disorder specific rumination.

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Attentional Bias Among Adolescents Who Stutter: Evidence for a Vigilance–Avoidance Effect

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00090 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (10) ◽

pp. 3349-3363

Author(s):

Naomi H. Rodgers ◽

Jennifer Y. F. Lau ◽

Patricia M. Zebrowski

Keyword(s):

Social Anxiety ◽

Attentional Bias ◽

Preliminary Evidence ◽

Cutoff Score ◽

Attentional Disengagement ◽

Social Stimuli ◽

Facial Stimuli ◽

The Social ◽

Attentional Engagement ◽

High Social Anxiety

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine group and individual differences in attentional bias toward and away from socially threatening facial stimuli among adolescents who stutter and age- and sex-matched typically fluent controls. Method Participants included 86 adolescents (43 stuttering, 43 controls) ranging in age from 13 to 19 years. They completed a computerized dot-probe task, which was modified to allow for separate measurement of attentional engagement with and attentional disengagement from facial stimuli (angry, fearful, neutral expressions). Their response time on this task was the dependent variable. Participants also completed the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) and provided a speech sample for analysis of stuttering-like behaviors. Results The adolescents who stutter were more likely to engage quickly with threatening faces than to maintain attention on neutral faces, and they were also more likely to disengage quickly from threatening faces than to maintain attention on those faces. The typically fluent controls did not show any attentional preference for the threatening faces over the neutral faces in either the engagement or disengagement conditions. The two groups demonstrated equivalent levels of social anxiety that were both, on average, very close to the clinical cutoff score for high social anxiety, although degree of social anxiety did not influence performance in either condition. Stuttering severity did not influence performance among the adolescents who stutter. Conclusion This study provides preliminary evidence for a vigilance–avoidance pattern of attentional allocation to threatening social stimuli among adolescents who stutter.

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Improving Body Satisfaction

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000206 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 62-71 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Carolien Martijn ◽

Jessica M. Alleva ◽

Anita Jansen

Keyword(s):

Eating Disorders ◽

Body Dissatisfaction ◽

Automatic System ◽

Body Satisfaction ◽

Western Society ◽

Related Information ◽

Current Article ◽

Women And Girls

Feelings of body dissatisfaction are common in Western society, especially in women and girls. More than innocent discontent, body dissatisfaction can have serious consequences such as depression and eating disorders. The current article discusses the nature of body dissatisfaction, how it develops and how it is currently being treated. We also discuss novel strategies to increase body satisfaction that work on the automatic system (e.g., by retraining attentional and conditioning processes), since recent research suggests that appearance-related information is processed automatically. We suggest that extant methods should be combined with these novel strategies, in order to optimally improve body dissatisfaction and to prevent its detrimental consequences.

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