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All Outputs (73)

"Make sure that everybody feels there is a space for them": Understanding and promoting appearance inclusivity at university (2024)
Journal Article

Appearance concerns are a pervasive issue affecting many university students and contributing to poor psychosocial and academic outcomes. To combat these, action is needed by universities to promote appearance inclusivity. The current study used indu... Read More about "Make sure that everybody feels there is a space for them": Understanding and promoting appearance inclusivity at university.

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 (2024)
Journal Article

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... Read More about 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.

Can following body positive or appearance neutral Facebook pages improve young women's body image and mood? Testing novel social media micro-interventions (2023)
Journal Article

Small changes to social media use could have a large impact across the population. The present study tested novel social media micro-interventions (i.e., brief content delivered in everyday life) in which young women (N = 159) were instructed to eith... Read More about Can following body positive or appearance neutral Facebook pages improve young women's body image and mood? Testing novel social media micro-interventions.

Imagery versus captions: The effect of body positive Instagram content on young women's mood and body image (2022)
Journal Article

Body positive social media content aims to positively impact young women's body image and mood by challenging traditionally narrow beauty ideals. This online experiment investigated the effect of viewing body positive Instagram posts on young women's... Read More about Imagery versus captions: The effect of body positive Instagram content on young women's mood and body image.

Exploring teachers’ perceptions of promoting acceptance of diverse appearances in primary school children (4-11 years) (2022)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Objectives and design: Research suggests children can begin judging others based on their appearance as early as 4 years old. Stigma towards children who have a diverse appearance (e.g., higher weight, visible difference) can have a negative impact o... Read More about Exploring teachers’ perceptions of promoting acceptance of diverse appearances in primary school children (4-11 years).

The impact of completing body image assessments on adolescents’ body image and engagement in body change strategies: Harmful or harmless? (2021)
Journal Article

Parents and educators have raised concerns that participating in body image research may cause or increase poor body image and engagement in body change strategies. This quasi-experimental study compared body image and body change strategy outcomes a... Read More about The impact of completing body image assessments on adolescents’ body image and engagement in body change strategies: Harmful or harmless?.

Clinically significant body dissatisfaction: Prevalence and association with depressive symptoms in adolescent boys and girls (2021)
Journal Article

Body dissatisfaction is distressing and a risk factor for adverse consequences including eating disorders. However, data pertaining to the prevalence of body dissatisfaction in adolescence, a key period for its emergence, are lacking. This is a subst... Read More about Clinically significant body dissatisfaction: Prevalence and association with depressive symptoms in adolescent boys and girls.

Motivations for social media use: Associations with social media engagement and body satisfaction and well-being among adolescents (2021)
Journal Article

Adolescents are spending considerable time on social media, yet it is unclear whether motivations for social media use drive different forms of social media engagement, and their relationships with body satisfaction and well-being. This study tested... Read More about Motivations for social media use: Associations with social media engagement and body satisfaction and well-being among adolescents.

Children’s attitudes and friendship behaviours towards socially stigmatised appearances: Do attitudes vary according to type of difference? (2021)
Journal Article

Appearance-based stereotyping and stigma emerge in early childhood and can exist by the age of 4 years. Children from stigmatized groups (e.g., higher weight and visible difference) are at increased risk of experiencing judgment and unwanted behavior... Read More about Children’s attitudes and friendship behaviours towards socially stigmatised appearances: Do attitudes vary according to type of difference?.

Body dissatisfaction predicts the onset of depression among adolescent females and males: A prospective study (2020)
Journal Article

Rationale: Body dissatisfaction is prevalent in mid-adolescence and may be associated with the onset of depression. Objective: The study assessed the influence of body dissatisfaction on the occurrence of later depressive episodes in a population-bas... Read More about Body dissatisfaction predicts the onset of depression among adolescent females and males: A prospective study.

Social media, body satisfaction and well-being among adolescents: A mediation model of appearance-ideal internalization and comparison (2020)
Journal Article

Despite adolescents’ prolific use of social media, relationships between social media and body satisfaction and well-being are not yet well understood, especially among boys. This study tested a sociocultural model of body image within the context of... Read More about Social media, body satisfaction and well-being among adolescents: A mediation model of appearance-ideal internalization and comparison.

The effects of fitspiration images on body attributes, mood and eating behaviors: An experimental Ecological Momentary Assessment study in females (2020)
Journal Article

Through an experimental Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) design, we assessed the effects of fitspiration images (relative to neutral) on body image, mood and disordered eating and whether trait body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization an... Read More about The effects of fitspiration images on body attributes, mood and eating behaviors: An experimental Ecological Momentary Assessment study in females.

‘Everybody’s Different: The Appearance Game’. A randomised controlled trial evaluating an appearance-related board game intervention with children aged 9-11 years (2020)
Journal Article

This study evaluated the effectiveness of an educational board game aimed at increasing knowledge of appearance-related issues, positive body image, media literacy, and acceptance of appearance diversity with British school children. Two hundred and... Read More about ‘Everybody’s Different: The Appearance Game’. A randomised controlled trial evaluating an appearance-related board game intervention with children aged 9-11 years.

Prospective pathways to depressive symptoms and disordered eating in adolescence: A 7-year longitudinal cohort study (2020)
Journal Article

Eating pathology and depressive symptoms increase during adolescence, yet predictive pathways remain predominantly unexplored, despite their implications for prevention. The present study aimed to identify shared risk factors for eating pathology and... Read More about Prospective pathways to depressive symptoms and disordered eating in adolescence: A 7-year longitudinal cohort study.

The case for body positivity on social media: Perspectives on current advances and future directions (2020)
Journal Article

In recent years, the body positive movement has emerged on social media and has generated both support and criticism in pop-cultural discourse. We review the potential benefits and disadvantages of ‘body positivity’ on social media in light of theory... Read More about The case for body positivity on social media: Perspectives on current advances and future directions.

A cluster randomized controlled trial of the SoMe social media literacy body image and wellbeing program for adolescent boys and girls: Study protocol (2020)
Journal Article

Youth spend substantial time on social media, which can foster self-critical processes that increase risk of body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and depressed mood. To date, there have been few investigations of interventions to decrease the neg... Read More about A cluster randomized controlled trial of the SoMe social media literacy body image and wellbeing program for adolescent boys and girls: Study protocol.

A biopsychosocial model of social media use and body image concerns, disordered eating, and muscle-building behaviors among adolescent girls and boys (2020)
Journal Article

Social media use is associated with body image concerns, disordered eating and body change behaviors in adolescents. This study aimed to examine these relationships within a biopsychosocial framework and test an integrated model. A sample of 681 adol... Read More about A biopsychosocial model of social media use and body image concerns, disordered eating, and muscle-building behaviors among adolescent girls and boys.

Understanding attitudes and friendship behaviours towards socially stigmatised appearances in children aged 4-10 years (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Background: Appearance-based stereotyping and prejudice emerges in early childhood, and can exist by the age of 4 years. Children from negatively stereotyped or stigmatised groups (e.g., higher weight, visible difference) are at increased risk of exp... Read More about Understanding attitudes and friendship behaviours towards socially stigmatised appearances in children aged 4-10 years.