A brief mindfulness meditation can ameliorate the effects of exposure to idealised social media images on self-esteem, mood, and body appreciation in young women: An online randomised controlled experiment

Hooper, Rachael; Guest, E.; Ramsey-Wade, C.; Slater, A.

Abstract

The study examined whether a 10-minute mindfulness meditation intervention could ameliorate effects of exposure to social media thinspiration and fitspiration images on women's self-esteem, mood, and body appreciation. A total of 162 women aged 18–42 years (M = 25.94, SD = 4.38) completed an online experiment which involved viewing thinspiration and fitspiration images before random allocation to either a brief, ten-minute mindfulness meditation audio intervention or a ten-minute control audio about jujitsu. Participants completed self-reported measures of self-esteem, positive and negative mood, and body appreciation at baseline (Time 1), post-exposure to idealised social media images (Time 2), and immediately post-intervention (Time 3). Mixed, repeated-measures ANOVAs showed that scores were lower for body appreciation, self-esteem, and positive mood, and higher for negative mood, in both groups after exposure to idealised imagery. However, a brief mindfulness intervention ameliorated the negative effects of social media exposure. Specifically, self-esteem, body appreciation, and mood were higher in the mindfulness meditation group at Time 3, compared to the control group. Future interventions should explore the utility of mindfulness practices to provide long term buffering effects against such social media content, as well as targeting the idealisation of female physiques portrayed in thinspiration and fitspiration content.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 6, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Mar 15, 2024
• Publication Date: Jun 30, 2024
• Deposit Date: Mar 7, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 12, 2024
• Journal: Body Image
• Print ISSN: 1740-1445
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 49
• Article Number: 101702
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101702
• Keywords: Mindfulness, Self-esteem, Body appreciation, Mood
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11766414