| Thin-ideal internalization is defined as the extent to which an individual is expresses preferences for the socially-prescribed thin attractiveness standard and engages in behavior reflecting the pursuit of this ideal（Thompson&Stice,2001）.In the Dual-Pathway Model proposed by Stice et al.（1996）,thin-ideal internalization may contribute to body dissatisfaction,dieting,negative affect and disordered eating.Although many studies have assessed psychosocial correlates,cognitive biases and interventions of thin ideal internalization,the existing literature still has important gaps.For example,few studies have examined longitudinal relations between thin-ideal internalization and body image-related outcomes,particularly in non-Western cultural contexts such as China where the thin feminine attractiveness ideal is also popular.In addition,there has been limited research on information processing biases associated with thin-ideal internalization.Although some researchers have reported women with elevations in thin-ideal internalization showed attention,appraisal or memory biases toward body-related information,results have been inconsistent and studies have tended to evaluate only single biases（e.g.,attention）rather than considering links between biases in attention,appraisal and memory.Furthermore,although older research has emphasized thin-ideal portrayals from Western media as an influence on women in other cultures,recent China-based studies have found preferences for and pressure from Chinese/Asian appearance media are more salient to body image concerns of young Chinese women than Western media portrayals of appearance are.To date,however,culture of thin-ideal portrayals has not been evaluated in laboratory studies of cognitive biases among Chinese women.Finally,although thin-ideal internalization is a risk factor for disordered eating among women in different countries including China,the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce thin-ideal internalization and other risk factors has been very limited in China.Until now,one China-based study found an online version of a dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program,the Body Project（BP）reduced thin-ideal internalization up to a six-month follow-up.However,the associated effect size was small and the overall literature suggests in-person versions of the BP and other dissonance interventions may be more effective than online versions.Based on these limitations,this thesis had three main purposes.First,the thesis examined the status of thin-ideal internalization as a risk factor for disordered eating and body image-related outcomes of young Chinese women.Second,effects of thin-ideal internalization and culture with body-related information processing biases in attention,appraisal,and memory were assessed in this thesis.Finally,effects of a peer-facilitated and online versions of the BP on decreases in thin-ideal internalization were assessed in a sample of young Chinese women compared to an educational video control condition.Study 1 was a prospective study designed to investigate the status of thin-ideal internalization as a risk factor for and concomitant of changes in disordered eating and body image-related outcomes over the course of 12 months.Participants were 681 young Chinese women who completed a baseline（T1）assessment featuring questionnaire measures of Chinese/Asian appearance media internalization,appearance comparisons of Chinese/Asian media portrayals,body dissatisfaction and disordered eating as well as a follow-up assessment of the same measures 12 months later.A hierarchical multiple regression model for disordered eating as dependent variable indicated that,T1internalization explained significant unique variance for T2 disordered eating;T2internalization also contributed unique impact on T2 disordered eating.Regard appearance comparisons as dependent variable,results showed T1 internalization had unique impact on T2 appearance comparisons;T2 internalization also explained unique variance on T2 appearance comparisons.In terms of body dissatisfaction as dependent variable,only T2 but not T1 internalization explained significant unique variance of T2body dissatisfaction.Study 2 was an eye-tracking study designed to investigate the biases in visual attention,appraisal preferences and memory biases toward Asian and Western media depictions of high versus low thin-ideal internalization groups.Participants were 118young Chinese women who viewed a series of lower-weight and average-weight sized body picture pairs from Chinese and Western media,rated their preferences for these images and then subsequently engaged in a recognition memory task featuring body images they previously viewed and newly presented images of each body picture type.A series of 2（Thin-ideal internalization:High vs.Low）×2（Culture:Asian vs.Western）×2（Body Size:Lower-weight vs.Average-weight）analyses of variance was run to assess effects of these factors on attention（first fixation latency,overall gaze duration）,preference appraisal,and memory biases(P（Hit）,P（False alarm）,d’).In testing the effect of culture,regarding visual attention biases,main effect of Culture indicated participants had overall attention biases toward Asian images,specifically they had shorter first fixation latency and longer overall gaze duration for Asian body images.Culture×Body Size was found which indicated participants had elevated attention biases toward Asian average-weight images.In terms of preference appraisal,main effect of Culture showed women preferred more on Asian rather than Western body images.Culture×Body Size interaction effect was also found which meant they preferred more on Asian average-weight images.Regarding recognition memory,main effect of Body Size in P（Hit）and d’showed participants had more correct respond and better recognition ability on lower-weight images.Culture×Body Size interaction effect of P（False alarm（FA））indicated participants were mistaken less on Asian lower-weight images while made more mistakes on Western Lower-weight images.In assessing the effect of thin-ideal internalization on cognitive biases toward body images of different body size,2（Thin-ideal internalization（Ti I）:High vs.Low）×2（Culture:Asian vs.Western）×2（Body Size:Lower-weight vs.Average-weight）analyses of variance was run to assess effects of these factors on attention,appraisal and memory same as above.Results of attention showed main effect of Culture on first fixation latency and overall gaze duration,which suggested participants had attention biases toward Asian body images.Group×Culture interaction effect on first fixation latency showed participants with high Ti I had attention biases toward Asian images while no differences were found for low Ti I women.A statistical trend of Group×Body Size（p=0.059）on overall gaze duration indicated women in low Ti I gazed longer on average-weight images than lower-weight body images.Regarding preference appraisal,main effect of Body Size showed participants had overall preference for lower-weight body images.In terms of recognition memory,Main effect of Body Size on P（Hit）and d’suggested women had higher accurate respond on previously seen lower-weight images than average-weight images,and they had better recognition ability on lower-weight body images.Culture×Body Size interaction effect on P（FA）showed participants made more mistakes on discriminating new from old Western lower-weight images.In assessing the correlation between Ti I,attention,appraisal and memory,Ti I was negatively correlated with overall gaze duration for average-weight images and positively related to gaze dwell time of lower-weight body images.Participants’overall gaze duration for one image type was positively correlated with the preference appraisal for that type of body images.No significant correlations regarding memory and other variables were found.Study 3 intended to assess the intervention effect of reducing thin-ideal internalization of in-person version of Body Project（BP）,namely Peer-Facilitated BP and online version of BP,namely e Body Project（e BP）among young Chinese women.293 young women with high thin-ideal internalization and body dissatisfaction were invited to the intervention which they engaged in written,oral and behavior exercises as well as homework to critique and challenge thin-ideal.Thin-ideal internalization and disordered eating level were assessed on baseline,following intervention,6-month and12-month follow-ups.Women in Peer-Facilitated BP had significant decrease of disordered eating to the 12-month follow-up and the reduction of thin-ideal internalization sustained until 6-month follow-up compared to video control group.No reduction of disordered eating was found on standardized feedback and personalized e BP groups.However,the decrease of thin-ideal internalization of women in standardized feedback group lasted to 6-month follow-up.In comparing the intervention effect of in-person BP and e BP,results indicated the overall better effect of in-person BP（Peer-Facilitated BP）in reducing disordered eating and thin-ideal internalization.In sum,results of three studies underscored several implications of thin-ideal internalization for Chinese young women.Study 1 indicated young women who reported elevations in thin-ideal internalization during a baseline assessment were more susceptible to increase disordered eating and appearance comparison but not body dissatisfaction in 1-year follow-up.As such,Study 1 illustrated thin-ideal internalization as a salient risk factor for disordered eating in this population,Conversely,Study 2indicated high vs.low levels of trait thin-ideal internalization did not affect body-related biases in visual attention,appraisal preferences or memory among young Chinese women,instead features of model images（body size）tended to affect information processing within the entire sample.Specifically,young Chinese women displayed longer overall gaze durations and stronger preferences for Asian（vs.Western）models and lower-（vs.average-）weight models as well as better recognition memory for thinner than average sized models.In part,these results indicated that Chinese women,in general,appeared to show information-processing biases favoring portrayals of thinner rather than average body size.Study 3 indicated both online and in-person peer-led BP interventions were more effective than video control group in reducing thin-ideal internalization and disordered eating among young Chinese women following treatment.However,at the 6-month follow-up,advantages were maintained only for the peer-led BP（vs.video control）and standardized feedback e BP on reducing thin-ideal internalization.As such,the in-person version of the BP may be a preferable intervention for reducing thin-ideal internalization and disordered eating among young Chinese women,though additional“booster”sessions may be needed to maintain these effects beyond 6 months after treatment. |
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