Expand your body when you look at yourself: The role of the posture in a mirror exposure task

The effect of mobile social media on the mental health status of Chinese international students: an empirical study on the chain mediation effect

PURPOSE

To explore the impact of mobile social media on the psychological well-being of Chinese international students and analyze the mechanisms of influence to enhance their overall psychological health and social interactions in a foreign environment.

METHODS

Convenience sampling was employed, using questionnaires on Mobile Social Media, Psychological Resilience, Body Image, Health Goal Setting, Physical Activity Level, and Mental Health Status as measurement tools. Data were gathered from 378 Chinese international students across 33 universities in South Korea, including Kangwon National University, Myongji University, Kunsan National University, Seoul National University, and Chonbuk National University. Confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, common method bias testing, and chain mediation effect analysis were conducted using SPSS and AMOS 23.0.

RESULTS

Mobile social media has significant indirect effects on the mental health of international students through various factors: psychological resilience and physical activity level (effect 'adg' = 0.080, 95% CI [0.029, 0.144]), body image and physical activity level (effect 'beg' = 0.122, 95% CI [0.044, 0.247]), and health goal setting and physical activity level (effect 'cfg' = 0.255, 95% CI [0.123, 0.428]).

CONCLUSION

The study shows that mobile social media benefits the mental health of Chinese international students by enhancing psychological resilience, physical activity, body image perception, and health goal setting. Collaboration between educational institutions and social media platforms is recommended to promote physical activity among international students. This collaboration can involve sharing encouraging messages, joining health communities, setting goals, and providing accessible exercise resources. Utilizing mobile apps or social media for tracking progress and goal-setting can also improve self-management skills.

Reduced body-image disturbance by body-image interventions is associated with neural-response changes in visual and social processing regions: a preliminary study

Introduction

Body-image disturbance is a major factor in the development of eating disorders, especially among young women. There are two main components: perceptual disturbance, characterized by a discrepancy between perceived and actual body size, and affective disturbance, characterized by a discrepancy between perceived and ideal body size. Interventions targeting body-image disturbance ask individuals to describe their own body without using negative expressions when either viewing it in a mirror or imagining it. Despite the importance of reducing body-image disturbance, its neural mechanisms remain unclear. Here we investigated the changes in neural responses before and after an intervention. We hypothesized that neural responses correlated with the degree of body-image disturbance would also be related to its reduction, i.e., a reduction in perceptual and affective disturbances would be related to changes in attentional and socio-cognitive processing, respectively.

Methods

Twenty-eight young adult women without known psychiatric disorders underwent a single 40-min intervention. Participants completed tasks before and after the intervention, in which they estimated their perceived and ideal body sizes using distorted silhouette images to measure body-image disturbance. We analyzed the behavioral and neural responses of participants during the tasks.

Results

The intervention did not significantly reduce body-image disturbance. Analysis of individual differences showed distinct changes in neural responses for each type of disturbance. A decrease in perceptual disturbance was associated with bodily visuospatial processing: increased activation in the left superior parietal lobule, bilateral occipital gyri, and right cuneus. Reduced affective disturbance was associated with socio-cognitive processing; decreased activation in the right temporoparietal junction, and increased functional connectivity between the left extrastriate body area and the right precuneus.

Discussion

We identified distinct neural mechanisms (bodily visuospatial and socio-cognitive processing) associated with the reduction in each component of body-image disturbance. Our results imply that different neural mechanisms are related to reduced perceptual disturbance and the expression thereof, whereas similar neural mechanisms are related to the reduction and expression of affective disturbance. Considering the small sample size of this study, our results should be regarded as preliminary.

Die Spiegelkonfrontationstherapie zur Behandlung von Körperbildstörungen bei Essstörungen – Evidenz, Wirkmechanismen und Vorgehensweise

Zusammenfassung. Körperbildprobleme sind ein Kernmerkmal von Essstörungen. Daher gilt eine Verbesserung des Körperbildes bei der Behandlung von Essstörungen als zentrales Therapieziel. Verschiedene empirische Befunde weisen auf die Spiegelkonfrontation als wirksame Methode zur Reduktion von Körperbildstörungen hin. Ziel dieses Übersichtsartikels ist es, den aktuellen Stand der wissenschaftlichen Literatur zum Thema Spiegelkonfrontationstherapie bei Essstörungen darzulegen. Insbesondere sollen die Wirksamkeitsstudien getrennt für nicht-klinische, körperunzufriedene Gruppen mit und ohne Übergewicht sowie die verschiedenen Essstörungsgruppen systematisiert und unterschiedliche Vorgehensweisen beschrieben werden. Der Übersichtsartikel liefert Hinweise dafür, dass die Spiegelkonfrontationstherapie bei Hochrisikogruppen mit erhöhter Körperunzufriedenheit sowie bei Essstörungen zu positiven Veränderungen hinsichtlich der kognitiv-affektiven und behavioralen Komponente des Körperbildes führt. Jedoch mangelt es insgesamt an randomisiert-kontrollierten Studien, die die Wirksamkeit der Spiegelkonfrontationstherapie mit ausreichend großen Stichproben gezielt untersuchen – vor allem bei der Anorexia nervosa. Der Übersichtsartikel schließt mit einer Diskussion über mögliche Wirkmechanismen, (Kontra–)‌Indikationen und einem Ausblick für zukünftige Forschung ab.

Exploring moderators of mirror exposure on pre- to post changes in body image outcomes: Systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

Mirror exposure (ME) is embedded within cognitive behavioral treatment of body image concern (BIC), and existing literature demonstrates its potential value as a BIC intervention. The purpose of the study is to provide a meta-analytic review of ME effects on attitudinal and behavioral BIC.

METHODS

Twelve studies met inclusion criteria, yielding six between-group and 18 within-group comparisons.

RESULTS

Random effects models demonstrated a medium effect of ME versus control conditions, on attitudinal BIC, from pre- to immediate posttreatment, small effect at follow-up (1 to 4 weeks posttreatment), and large effect on behavioral BIC pre- to immediate posttreatment. However, small sample sizes yielded nonsignificant findings and significant heterogeneity. Exploratory moderator analyses-ME type, ME dosage (session frequency, duration), and diagnosis-demonstrated that, among single group pre-post designs, higher ME dosage may be instrumental to pre-posttreatment improvements. Consistent with this finding, individual studies with high dosages of ME demonstrated the largest effect sizes. Conclusion: Results may suggest a strong ME effect on BIC at high dosages (>120 minutes). The current review highlights gaps in ME literature and the need for future clinical trials assessing ME, using a priori, high-quality research designs that further the understanding of ME's mechanisms of change.

Using bodily postures in the treatment of anorexia nervosa: Effects of power posing on interoception and affective states

OBJECTIVE

Power posing involves the adoption of an expansive bodily posture. This study examined whether power posing could benefit individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) and women with normal weight in regards to interoceptive ability and affective states.

METHOD

Participants included 50 inpatients and outpatients with AN as well as 51 normal-weight women. Interoceptive accuracy (IAcc), measured by the heartbeat tracking task and interoceptive sensibility (IS), measured by confidence ratings, were assessed at baseline, after a single power posing session and after 1 week of daily training. Also, the short-term effects of power posing on subjective feelings of dominance, pleasantness, and arousal were investigated.

RESULTS

Both groups increased in their IAcc after one power posing session. Also, there was a significant main effect of time on feelings of dominance and pleasantness in the short-term. Women with AN displayed lower levels of IS, dominance, and pleasantness as well as higher levels of arousal than women without AN.

DISCUSSION

These findings suggest that power posing has the potential to increase IAcc, subjective feelings of power and pleasant affect in the short-term. Further research should investigate which mechanisms foster the effectiveness of this intervention to tailor it to the needs of women with AN.