The effectiveness of a masked counterconditioning approach using continuous flash suppression to alleviate body dissatisfaction in women with high body image concerns

Research that used counterconditioning (CC) to reduce women's negative body image has led to mixed results. One explanation could be that the negative responses elicited by own body pictures hinder the effectiveness of CC procedures in adjusting overly negative attitudes towards the own body. I...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry 2024-06, Vol.83, p.101938, Article 101938
Hauptverfasser: Masselman, Irina, Glashouwer, Klaske A., Span, Mark M., de Jong, Peter J.
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Research that used counterconditioning (CC) to reduce women's negative body image has led to mixed results. One explanation could be that the negative responses elicited by own body pictures hinder the effectiveness of CC procedures in adjusting overly negative attitudes towards the own body. In this study we therefore tried to prevent the impact of negative responses by limiting women's perceptual awareness of the own body pictures during the CC procedure. Women with a negative body image were randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 75) or control (n = 71) condition. In the experimental condition, participants’ masked body pictures were systematically followed by visible social approval cues (i.e., smiling faces), whereas neutral body-unrelated control pictures were followed by a blank screen. In the control condition, both own body and control pictures were followed by a blank screen. Participants in the experimental condition did not report a more positive evaluation of the own body (pictures) after CC than participants in the control condition. Also, the strength of automatic affective body evaluations as indexed by a single-target Implicit Association Test did not differ between conditions. Many participants did not remain fully unaware of their body pictures during conditioning. The findings provided no support for the idea that CC with masked own body pictures can be used in women with body dissatisfaction to improve their body image. •Participants' masked body pictures were conditioned with visible smiling faces.•The masked conditioning procedure did not improve the valence of body pictures.•The masked conditioning procedure did not enhance body satisfaction.•We recommend several adjustments to strengthen the counterconditioning procedure.
ISSN:0005-7916
1873-7943
1873-7943
DOI:10.1016/j.jbtep.2023.101938