Examining the Effect of Repeated Exposure to Disgust-Eliciting Body-Related Memories on Young Women’s Body Image

Wogram, Zoë (2022) Examining the Effect of Repeated Exposure to Disgust-Eliciting Body-Related Memories on Young Women’s Body Image. Master thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

The prevalence of body image dissatisfaction in young women in Western society and its role in the development and maintenance of eating disorders call for interventions that target this problem. Based on the recent finding that women with a negative body image recalled more autobiographical memories involving experiences of body-related self-disgust, the current study investigates a new intervention using imaginal exposure to those memories. It is expected that the intervention would lead to decreased self-disgust and avoidance, as well as to increased acceptance of one’s body. Besides, it is hypothesised that women with a higher body-mass index (BMI) show higher initial self-disgust than women with a lower BMI, and that the effectiveness of self-disgust exposure would differ depending on BMI. Using a within-subjects design, the effectiveness of the self-disgust exposure was assessed and compared to exposure to neutral memories in a pre-selected sample of 53 women with a negative body image indicated by high self-disgust. Results did not find support for our hypotheses. They showed a significant decrease in self-disgust after neutral exposure, significant increase of avoidance after self-disgust exposure, and no significant difference in acceptance. BMI was neither significantly related to initial self-disgust nor to the effectiveness of the exposure. Our findings imply that the intervention did not work, which may be due to several methodological weaknesses. Further research scrutinising the relationship between body-related self-disgust and women’s negative body image, as well as the development of improved interventions is warranted. Keywords: self-disgust, body image, exposure, autobiographical memories, avoidance

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Frey, M.I. and Spreckelsen, P. von
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	Clinical Psychology (CP) [Master Psychology]
Date Deposited:	17 May 2022 06:52
Last Modified:	17 May 2022 06:52
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/456

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