Helena Lewis-Smith's Outputs (27)

“Like putting on an old pair of gloves” or “realising I am actually over it”: A qualitative study exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions on eating disorder recovery in the UK (2023)
Journal Article

The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions posed unique challenges for people living with eating disorders (EDs), particularly relating to social isolation and changes in treatment access. However, less is known about the experience of lockdown for... Read More about “Like putting on an old pair of gloves” or “realising I am actually over it”: A qualitative study exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions on eating disorder recovery in the UK.

Evaluating a body image school-based intervention in India: A randomized controlled trial (2023)
Journal Article

Body dissatisfaction is highly prevalent among adolescents in low- and middle- income countries, including in India. However, evidence-based interventions are lacking. This study evaluated the efficacy of a school-based mixed-gender body image interv... Read More about Evaluating a body image school-based intervention in India: A randomized controlled trial.

Comics as a body image intervention among adolescents in Indian Hindi medium schools: insights from an acceptability study. (2022)
Journal Article

Indian adolescents experience body dissatisfaction. However, empirically supported interventions are lacking, particularly in lower socio-economic regions of India. This paper describes the acceptability testing of a six-session teacher-led comics-ba... Read More about Comics as a body image intervention among adolescents in Indian Hindi medium schools: insights from an acceptability study..

A comic-based body image intervention for adolescents in semi-rural Indian schools: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (2022)
Journal Article

Adolescents in India experience body dissatisfaction, however, empirically supported interventions are lacking. This paper describes the protocol for the development, acceptability testing, and cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a six-sessi... Read More about A comic-based body image intervention for adolescents in semi-rural Indian schools: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Exploring the experiences and psychosocial support needs of informal carers of men with breast cancer: A qualitative study (2022)
Journal Article

Purpose: The provision of practical and emotional support for men who have been diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK falls primarily on their partners, close family members or friends. However, informal carers’ experiences are omitted from the rese... Read More about Exploring the experiences and psychosocial support needs of informal carers of men with breast cancer: A qualitative study.

A qualitative exploration of motivations for fasting and the impact of Ramadan on eating behaviors and body image among young adult Muslim women in the United Kingdom (2021)
Journal Article

Research exploring the impact of fasting in Ramadan on eating behaviors has focused on Muslim-majority countries and has neglected to examine impacts beyond the month when “normal” eating patterns resume. This study aimed to explore the experiences o... Read More about A qualitative exploration of motivations for fasting and the impact of Ramadan on eating behaviors and body image among young adult Muslim women in the United Kingdom.

"I listen to my body now": A qualitative exploration of positive body image in breast cancer survivors (2021)
Journal Article

Objective: Existing research has identified the high prevalence of body image concerns among female breast cancer survivors. However, it has neglected to explore the experience of positive body image among this group, despite its potential utility fo... Read More about "I listen to my body now": A qualitative exploration of positive body image in breast cancer survivors.

Acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a school-based body image intervention in urban India: A pilot randomised controlled trial (2021)
Journal Article

This pilot study evaluated the acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a culturally adapted school-based body image intervention, Dove Confident Me, for use in urban India. Two private schools in New Delhi were randomly assigned at the school level... Read More about Acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a school-based body image intervention in urban India: A pilot randomised controlled trial.

Cultural adaptation and validation of the Body Esteem Scale for Adults and Adolescents for use in English among adolescents in urban India (2021)
Journal Article

Body image research is growing in India; however, there are no psychometrically valid measures to assess body image concerns among an Indian population. In this study, the Body Esteem Scale for Adults and Adolescents (BESAA) underwent adaptation and... Read More about Cultural adaptation and validation of the Body Esteem Scale for Adults and Adolescents for use in English among adolescents in urban India.

Game on! A randomised controlled trial evaluation of playable technology in improving body satisfaction and negative affect among adolescents (2021)
Journal Article

Playables are mini-games used in digital advertising and may offer a novel and engaging avenue to improve young people’s well-being at scale. This randomised controlled trial evaluated the immediate impact and protective properties of a psychoeducati... Read More about Game on! A randomised controlled trial evaluation of playable technology in improving body satisfaction and negative affect among adolescents.

A narrative review of motivations for dating app use and associated sexual behaviors: Recommendations to promote safe sex among Indian dating app users (2021)
Journal Article

India is witnessing a rapid increase in the use of dating apps such as Tinder, which provide heterosexual individuals with access to many potential sexual partners, thereby increasing their propensity to engage in risky sexual behaviours. Adopting a... Read More about A narrative review of motivations for dating app use and associated sexual behaviors: Recommendations to promote safe sex among Indian dating app users.

Adaptation and validation of the Internalisation-General subscale of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3) in English among urban Indian adolescents (2021)
Journal Article

Few studies have validated body image related measures in Asian countries, including in India, thus stunting research progress. To provide a robust method of assessing internalisation of cultural appearance ideals, the purpose of this study was to va... Read More about Adaptation and validation of the Internalisation-General subscale of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3) in English among urban Indian adolescents.

Adaptation and validation of the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire in English among urban Indian adolescents (2020)
Journal Article

Objective: Eating pathology is a salient issue in India, with clinical features reported among adults and adolescents. However, there are currently no validated measures of disordered eating in the Indian context. The present study therefore aimed to... Read More about Adaptation and validation of the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire in English among urban Indian adolescents.

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.

The effectiveness of brief animated films as a scalable micro-intervention to improve children’s body image: A randomised controlled trial (2020)
Journal Article

Creating media to counteract the plethora of media and advertising that perpetuates negative body image is a scalable public health strategy that can be achieved through innovative micro-interventions. This study examined the immediate and short-ter... Read More about The effectiveness of brief animated films as a scalable micro-intervention to improve children’s body image: A randomised controlled trial.

Psychological and sociocultural influences on body image among midlife women with and without a history of breast cancer: Testing the Tripartite Influence Model of Body Image (2020)
Journal Article

Body image concerns are common among breast cancer survivors and women in midlife. However, effective interventions are lacking for breast cancer survivors. This may be related to prior research having examined non-modifiable and medicalised influenc... Read More about Psychological and sociocultural influences on body image among midlife women with and without a history of breast cancer: Testing the Tripartite Influence Model of Body Image.

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.

Body image and appearance-altering conditions (2019)
Book Chapter

Cognitive-behavioral roots of body image therapy and prevention (2019)
Journal Article

The existing array of evidence-based body image prevention and intervention approaches has evolvedover time. However, the majority originated directly or indirectly from a cognitive-behavioral conceptu-alisation of body image pioneered by Thomas F. C... Read More about Cognitive-behavioral roots of body image therapy and prevention.

Promoting positive body image and tackling overweight/obesity in children and adolescents: A combined health psychology and public health approach (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 Elsevier Inc. This article draws attention to the dual global problems of disordered eating and overweight/obesity among children and adolescents. It is well recognised that the main risk factor for disordered eating is body dissatisfaction, y... Read More about Promoting positive body image and tackling overweight/obesity in children and adolescents: A combined health psychology and public health approach.

A pilot study of a body image intervention for breast cancer survivors (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Body image interventions for breast cancer survivors are lacking in empirical support. Examining existing research on effective body image interventions for women in midlife more broadly may provide useful insights. This pilot stu... Read More about A pilot study of a body image intervention for breast cancer survivors.

Body image and disordered eating in midlife (2016)
Book Chapter

This chapter provides a overview of the historical background, research, controversies, and future directions relating to the prevalence, risk factors, and interventions for negative body image among adults in midlife.

Breast cancer or chest cancer? The impact of living with a ‘woman’s disease' (2016)
Journal Article

Breast cancer in men is rare. Diagnostic methods and treatment are the same as for women, but awareness of male breast cancer is low, as breast cancer is often perceived as a disease specific to women. This can delay diagnosis and cause psychological... Read More about Breast cancer or chest cancer? The impact of living with a ‘woman’s disease'.

Physical and psychological scars: The impact of breast cancer on women's body image (2015)
Journal Article

Whilst breast cancer remains the most common cancer amongst women in the United Kingdom, advances in medicine have seen survival rates improve over the years and the number of women living with the residual consequences of the disease and its treatme... Read More about Physical and psychological scars: The impact of breast cancer on women's body image.

Ageing, anxiety and appearance: Exploring the body image of women in midlife (2014)
Journal Article

The majority of body image research has focussed primarily on young adult women, a group within which appearance dissatisfaction has been repeatedly reported. These appearance worries have been found to adversely predict psychological and physical he... Read More about Ageing, anxiety and appearance: Exploring the body image of women in midlife.

Do you want to be a Health Psychologist? A survey of Further Education students' knowledge of and interest in health psychology as a future career (2014)
Journal Article

Interventions to support patients affected by an altered appearance
Book Chapter

Changes to appearance as a result of disease and treatment can be a source of considerable distress for many patients. In this chapter we apply a stepped model of care as a framework to consider the use of psychosocial approaches to support people wh... Read More about Interventions to support patients affected by an altered appearance.