REDUCING THE IMPACT OF MEDIA IMAGES ON WOMEN AT RISK FOR BODY IMAGE DISTURBANCE: THREE TARGETED INTERVENTIONS

Transcription

1 posavac TARGETED et al. INTERVENTIONS AND BODY IMAGE Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 20, No. 3, 2001, pp REDUCING THE IMPACT OF MEDIA IMAGES ON WOMEN AT RISK FOR BODY IMAGE DISTURBANCE: THREE TARGETED INTERVENTIONS HEIDI D. POSAVAC AND STEVEN S. POSAVAC University of Rochester RICHARD G. WEIGEL University of Utah Recent research has shown that exposure to the ideal thin standard of female beauty commonly presented in advertising and the broader media contributes to body image disturbance among women. Researchers have proposed that social comparison processes underlie this phenomenon; women may routinely compare their bodies with images of feminine beauty contained in the media and consequently become less satisfied with their own bodies. This study reports the evaluation of three interventions that were designed to prevent women from experiencing body image disturbance when exposed to media images by interrupting the social comparison process. Experimental data suggest that all three interventions (a) decreased the likelihood of female participants comparing their bodies with media images, and (b) prevented media-induced body image disturbance. The content of the interventions, and implications for the treatment and prevention of body image disturbance and eating disorders are discussed. Body image disturbance occurs when a person experiences a distortion in perception, behavior, or cognition and affect related to body weight This article is dedicated to the memory of Lori and MacKenzie Irving. The authors thank Emil Posavac for his assistance in creating the videotaped interventions used in this study, Jean Anderson and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript, and Allison Clark for her assistance in the collection of data. Address correspondence to Steven S. Posavac, William Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627; posavac@simon.rochester.edu. 324

2 325 POSAVAC ET AL. and shape (Cash & Brown, 1987). Body image disturbance is prevalent among women in Western society. Researchers have concluded that females concern with weight and body image has reached epidemic proportions and such concern is now considered a normal part of the female experience (Cash & Henry, 1995; Cash, Winstead, & Janda, 1986; Silberstein, Striegel-Moore, & Rodin, 1987). Some of the correlates of body image disturbance include lowered self-esteem and elevated depression. In addition, body image disturbance may be a causal factor in the development of eating disorders (Garner, Rockert, Olmsted, Johnson & Coscina, 1985). Because these consequences are severe, an important goal for psychological research is the prevention of body image disturbance. Sociocultural factors have been implicated as a primary source of body image disturbance. The media in particular, with its emphasis on thinness as the ideal standard of female attractiveness, has been singled out as the most potent messenger of sociocultural pressures (Evans, Gilpin, Farkas, Shenassa & Pierce, 1995; Irving, 1990; Jacobi & Cash, 1994; Polivy & Herman, 1985; Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson & Kelly, 1986; Stein & Reichert, 1990; Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw & Stein, 1994; Striegel-Moore, Silberstein & Rodin, 1986; Wooley & Wooley, 1984). Recent research has confirmed the popular notion that exposure to media images of female attractiveness increases women s body image disturbance (Heinberg & Thompson, 1995; Posavac, Posavac & Posavac, 1998; Richins, 1991; Stice & Shaw, 1994). The purpose of the present study was to develop and test the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce the negative impact of exposure to media images on women s body image. This study focuses on the cognitive-affective dimension of body image. More specifically, this study is concerned with females evaluations of their bodies. Accordingly, subjective experiences, such as body dissatisfaction and weight concern will be considered synonymous with body image disturbance in this article. THE ROLE OF MEDIA IMAGES OF ATTRACTIVENESS IN WOMEN S BODY IMAGE DISTURBANCE The link between the media and body image disturbance had been purely speculative until several recent studies provided empirical support for this connection. Irving (1990) found that women perceive the media as the main source of pressure to be thin and that women exposed to heavy models reported less body image disturbance than women exposed to thin models. Stice et al., (1994) found that the more exposure women had to the media, the more likely they were to have eating disor-

3 326 POSAVAC ET AL. der symptoms. In addition, several experimental studies have demonstrated that when women are exposed to media images of female beauty, they tend to experience an increase in body image disturbance (Heinberg & Thompson, 1995; Posavac et al., 1998; Richins, 1991; Stice & Shaw, 1994). Interestingly, Heinberg and Thompson (1995) and Posavac et al. (1998) found that pre-existing dissatisfaction with appearance moderated women s responses to media images. These studies support the notion that women who are initially dissatisfied with their bodies are most sensitive to the adverse effects of media exposure. HOW THE MEDIA AFFECTS WOMEN S BODY IMAGE The process by which the media impacts women s body image can be understood in terms of social comparison (Wood, 1989) and self-discrepancy theories (Higgins, 1987). Researchers have proposed that women engage in a social comparison process (Martin & Kennedy, 1993) with media images when viewing models in magazines, or watching them on television (Schlundt & Johnson, 1990). When women compare themselves with media images of ideal female attractiveness, a perceived discrepancy between their actual attractiveness and the media s standard of attractiveness is likely to result. These discrepancies are likely to lead women to become dissatisfied with their own bodies (Posavac et al., 1998; Thompson, 1990). THE PRESENT RESEARCH Most interventions for body image disturbance emphasize tertiary prevention that focuses on an existing problem, rather than primary prevention (i.e., which focuses on an asymptomatic group) or secondary prevention (i.e., which focuses on an at risk group), and use cognitive behavioral interventions (Albee & Gullotta, 1986; Cash & Lavalle, 1997; Grant & Cash, 1995; Rosen, 1996; Rosen, Reiter & Orosan, 1995). This study differs from prior research by using secondary prevention as the intervention modality and exclusively focusing on the media as a primary contributor to body image disturbance. Our study is most similar to a media literacy approach that facilitates adaptive behavior by teaching recipients to be critical consumers of the media in efforts to prevent eating problems (Irving, DuPen & Berel, 1998; Levine, Smolak & Schermer, 1996). In the present research, we focused on disrupting the process whereby women compare themselves with media images and consequently have negative feelings about their own bodies. Research within the social

4 TARGETED INTERVENTIONS AND BODY IMAGE 327 comparison framework has shown that comparison is unlikely when potential comparison targets are perceived to be dissimilar from perceivers (Wood, 1989). We reasoned that if women were induced to perceive the media standard as an unrealistic image of female attractiveness, they might be less likely to compare themselves with media images because the fashion models pictured may be perceived to be dissimilar others (and accordingly, inappropriate targets for social comparison). If women did not engage in social comparison with media images, they might be less likely to perceive a discrepancy between themselves and the media ideal. Even if a discrepancy were perceived, it would appear exaggerated and unrealistic and therefore less valid. Accordingly, an intervention that reduces the likelihood of women comparing themselves with media images may reduce the likelihood of women experiencing increased body image disturbance when exposed to media images. An experiment was designed to test these hypotheses. We attempted to prevent the social comparison and discrepancy processes described above by developing targeted interventions. OVERVIEW AND HYPOTHESES Participants, selected on the basis of elevated body image disturbance, were exposed to either an experimental or control intervention, then viewed images of either fashion models representative of the media ideal or control images. Measures of body image disturbance were collected after media exposure to determine whether the experimental interventions were effective at reducing media-induced body image disturbance. In accordance with past studies (Heinberg & Thompson, 1995; Posavac et al. 1998) we expected that participants who were exposed to media images and did not receive an experimental intervention would report more body image disturbance than those exposed to neutral stimuli. More importantly, we expected that participants who viewed an experimental intervention before media exposure would report less body image disturbance than those receiving the control intervention. We also explored the relative efficacy of each intervention. In addition to measuring the impact of media exposure on body image disturbance, data were collected to evaluate the theorized social comparison mechanism whereby women compare themselves with media images, perceive a discrepancy, and consequently feel badly about their own bodies. It was hypothesized that participants who received an intervention before media exposure would be less likely to engage in social comparison with the media images than participants who received the control intervention.

5 328 POSAVAC ET AL. METHOD PARTICIPANTS Participants consisted of undergraduate women between the ages of 18 and 25 years who were enrolled in Introductory Psychology at the University of Utah. Students participated in groups of two to five; groups were randomly assigned to a condition. Participants received extra course credit for their participation. Only women with moderate to high levels of body dissatisfaction (6 and above, as measured by Garner s [1991] EDI-2) were included in the study (n = 128). This cut-off score was based on past research that showed women with Body Dissatisfaction scores of 6 to 27, but not 0 to 5, experienced more Weight Concern when exposed to slides of fashion models, compared with women who saw neutral images (Posavac et al., 1998). Restricting the analysis to this subset of the population produced a sample that would be at high risk of demonstrating media-induced body image disturbance and thus provided a test of the hypotheses among those women with the most to gain from an intervention. Three participants were excluded from the data analysis because their responses to a suspicion measure indicated an awareness of the experimental hypotheses. The final sample consisted of 125 participants. THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES Media Exposure. Slides containing images of professional fashion models were created from pictures from a variety of women s fashion magazines. A pilot test was conducted with female undergraduate students to ensure that the fashion models were considered to be attractive by this population. Slides of 20 models who had the highest attractiveness ratings were included in the study. Slides of automobiles were used in the control group as neutral stimuli. Targeted Interventions. Three experimental targeted interventions were developed, each with the goal of leading women to define media images of female beauty as dissimilar to others, and therefore inappropriate comparison targets. Each intervention consisted of a videotape of a psychologist speaking about the specific topic of the intervention. The experimental interventions consisted of an Artificial Beauty, Genetic Realties, and Combination messages (transcripts can be obtained from either the first or second author). Parenting Skills was the topic of a control intervention with neutral content with respect to body issues.

6 TARGETED INTERVENTIONS AND BODY IMAGE 329 The Artificial Beauty intervention presented arguments that media images are inappropriate targets for comparison because the model s beauty is artificial (i.e., enhanced through a variety of techniques not available to women in everyday life). This intervention focused on the inordinate amount of time and energy that goes into developing the flawless look. Specifically, women were exposed to a variety of deceiving techniques that are used in the media industry to create the idealized but unrealistic image of perfected beauty. For example, the contributions of professional makeup, hair styling, lighting, and photographic effects, such as airbrushing (Lakoff & Scherr, 1984) in creating the media ideal of female attractiveness were discussed. The theme of the Genetic Realities intervention was that media images of female attractiveness are inappropriate targets for comparison because the majority of women are genetically predisposed to be heavier than fashion models. The common assumption held by most women that proper diet and exercise will lead to the thin ideal was disputed by an explanation of genetic factors that limit the amount that body type can be altered. For example, this intervention contained a discussion of the set point theory of predetermined weight (Keys, Brozek, Henschel, Mickelsen & Taylor, 1950; Nisbett, 1972). A Combination intervention was developed to maximize the likelihood of women defining media images as inappropriate for social comparison by including arguments presented in both the Artificial Beauty and Genetic Realities interventions. In the interest of keeping all videotaped interventions the same length, the Combination intervention consisted of an integration of shortened versions of the Artificial Beauty and Genetic Realities messages. Accordingly, the Artificial Beauty and Genetic Realities interventions had a full 7-minute version and a shortened 3.5-minute version (the shortened versions contain fewer examples). To ensure that the shortened versions were as effective as the full versions, half of the participants in the Artificial Beauty and Genetic Realities conditions received the shortened version and the other half received the full version. If length of message in the Artificial Beauty and Genetic Realities conditions did not cause differential responding by participants, it can be concluded that the Combination condition faithfully represented the content of the Artificial Beauty and Genetic Realities messages. PRESCREENING VARIABLE Body Dissatisfaction. The Eating Disorder Inventory (second edition; hereafter, EDI-2) contains eleven standardized subscales of traits generally related to eating disorders (Garner 1991). The Body Dissatisfaction

7 330 POSAVAC ET AL. subscale was used as a means of assessing participants initial level of subjective body image disturbance for the purposes of participant selection. The scale ranges from 0 (no body dissatisfaction) to 27(maximal dissatisfaction). The Body Dissatisfaction subscale has demonstrated adequate reliability and validity (see Garner, 1991, and unpublished data discussed therein). DEPENDENT VARIABLES Body Image Disturbance. Three measures of body image disturbance were collected to measure the impact of media exposure on participants body satisfaction. The Weight Concern subscale of the Body Esteem Scale (Franzoi & Shields, 1984) was used to measure participants post manipulation weight concern. Scores on the Weight Concern subscale range from 10 to 50, with lower scores signifying more concern with weight. For the purposes of clarity, we recoded this scale such that higher scores would signify more weight concern. This scale has yielded adequate reliability and validity (Franzoi & Herzog, 1986; Franzoi & Shields, 1984; Thomas & Freeman, 1990). The other dependent measures of body image were derived from a free response listing of thoughts that came to participants minds while viewing the slides (see procedure). Participants were given two minutes to list the thoughts they had about themselves during slide viewing. Two judges blind to conditions coded this data. Responses were coded for the presence or absence of Negative-Self statements and Drive for Thinness statements. Negative-Self statements consisted of responses in which a negative statement was made about participants own physical appearance ( I am out of shape. ). Drive for Thinness was judged to be present when participants stated an interest or desire to become thinner either generally ( I wish I were thinner ), or specifically ( I need to exercise and/or diet ). Social Comparison. The free response data were also coded for the presence of Discounting and Idealizing statements as a means of measuring whether participants engaged in social comparison. A participant s response was coded as containing Discounting statements if she appeared to be critically consuming the media by questioning the realism of media images (by mentioning the deceiving techniques used in production of media images, or the disparity between fashion models attractiveness and that of most women) and/or recognizing the conflict media images present with biological realities and health issues. Responses were coded as Idealizing if participants stated a desire to look like or be like the media images.

8 TARGETED INTERVENTIONS AND BODY IMAGE 331 There were two disagreements between judges in the coding of the free response statements. These disagreements were resolved through discussion. PROCEDURE The experiment involved pretest and posttest phases. On arrival to an experiment described as Consumer Preferences, participants were told by a female experimenter that they would be participating in three independent experiments on consumer behavior. Experiment One was presented as an investigation of how certain personality variables (i.e., body image, perfectionism, and self-concept) influence consumer preferences. After receiving the instructions, participants were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire and the EDI-2. Although we were interested only in the Body Dissatisfaction subscale, all of the EDI-2 items were administered to reduce the likelihood that responding to body-related questions would make participants self conscious about body image and bias subsequent processing of the stimuli. The Body Dissatisfaction items were embedded in the standardized EDI-2 response sheets among items measuring, for example, Perfectionism, Ineffectiveness, and Interoceptive Awareness. Participants were then given a bogus Consumer Preferences survey, which was designed to support the cover story. Experiment Two was presented as a marketing research study. Specifically, participants were told that they would be viewing a videotape which was going to be marketed to college-age women in the near future and would be asked to evaluate several attributes of the video. Participants viewed one of four types of videotaped interventions and completed a bogus rating form that supported the cover story. Experiment Three was described as an investigation of the relationship between consumer preferences for products (i.e., clothing or automobiles) and self-concept. Participants were exposed to 20 slides of either fashion models or automobiles for 20 seconds each. While viewing the slides, participants completed a bogus survey of preferences for the products to support the cover story. Participants who received the control intervention (i.e., the Parenting message) viewed the Parenting intervention and then viewed slides of automobiles (hereafter referred to as the Control Intervention-Car Images condition) or viewed slides of fashion models (hereafter referred to as the Control Intervention-Media Images condition). Participants who received an experimental intervention (i.e., Artificial Beauty, Genetic

9 332 POSAVAC ET AL. Realities, and Combination messages) viewed either the Artificial Beauty, Genetic Realities, or Combination interventions and then viewed slides of fashion models. The experimenter then administered the Body Esteem Scale, which assessed participants level of weight concern. After completion of the Body Esteem Scale, the experimenter gave participants a Thought Listing Form and two minutes to write down any thoughts they had while viewing the slides. After completion of the questionnaires, participants were probed for suspicion. Suspicion was defined as the belief that viewing the videotape and slides might influence subsequent responding on the Weight Concern scale. Participants were then debriefed and excused. RESULTS PRELIMINARY ANALYSES Results from the full and shortened versions of the Artificial Beauty and Genetic Realities interventions showed that the length of the intervention did not affect any of the dependent variables for either intervention (p >.05 for all t tests comparing Weight Concern as a function of length and all χ 2 tests of the free response variables). These findings suggest that the content of both the Artificial Beauty and Genetic Realities interventions was adequately represented in the Combination intervention. Analyses were also conducted to ensure that there was no failure of randomization when participants were assigned to condition. Single factor between-subjects analyses of variance (ANOVAs) of Body Dissatisfaction and age revealed no differences between groups (both Fs < 1). The distribution of ethnicity across conditions was also nonsystematic. TESTS OF THE HYPOTHESES Means of all dependent variables as a function of condition are presented in Table 1. The hypotheses were investigated with four planned comparisons (Hays, 1993) conducted for both measures of body image disturbance (Weight Concern, Negative-Self statements, and Drive for Thinness statements) and social comparison (Discounting statements and Idealizing statements). Specific contrasts were accomplished by assigning a weight to each group mean. Weights of 0 were assigned to group means that were left

10 TARGETED INTERVENTIONS AND BODY IMAGE 333 TABLE 1. Weight Concern Means, and Percentages of Participants Who Made Discounting, Idealizing, Negative-Self Statements, and Drive for Thinness Statements as a Function of Condition (All ns=25) Control Intervention/ Car Images Control Intervention/ Media Images Condition Artificial Beauty Genetic Realities Combination Weight Concern M SD Discounting (%) Idealizing (%) Negative-Self (%) Drive for Thinness (%) Note. The Weight Concern scores have been recoded such that higher means reflect the presence of more Weight Concern (Franzoi and Shields, 1984). out of the comparison. Group means that were compared were assigned nonzero weights with opposite signs (positive or negative). In this manner, the contrasts among conditions could take advantage of the total degrees of freedom in the experiment (Hays, 1993). COMPARISON 1: CONTROL INTERVENTION-CAR IMAGES VERSUS CONTROL INTERVENTION-MEDIA IMAGES Comparison 1 addressed the hypothesis that among participants who received a control intervention (i.e., Parenting Skills), those exposed to slides of fashion models (Control Intervention-Media Images condition) would report more body image disturbance than those exposed to neutral slides (Control Intervention-Car Images condition). As expected, among participants who viewed the control intervention, those who were exposed to media images reported more Weight Concern (M = 38.1) than those exposed to neutral stimuli (M = 30.9), F(1,120) = 14.13, p <.005. To assess the size of the effect, we calculated Cohen s d (Cohen, 1988). Cohen suggests that a d value between.20 and.50 represents a small effect, a d value between.50 and.80 represents a moderate effect, and a d equal or greater than.80 represents a large effect. For this comparison, d = The free response data demonstrated that Control Intervention-Media Images participants were more likely to make Negative-Self statements

11 334 POSAVAC ET AL. (proportion =.28) than participants in the Control Intervention-Car Images condition (proportion = 0), χ 2 (1, N = 50) = 8.14, p =.004. We calculated the effect size of the difference between two proportions (ES p)according to the arcsine transformation procedure described by Cohen (1977) and Lipsey (1990). ES p is interpreted in the same way as Cohen s d. This analysis revealed that the effect size of this difference was large (ES p = 1.12). Control Intervention-Media Images participants also were more likely to make Drive for Thinness statements (proportion =.28) than Control Intervention-Car Images participants (proportion = 0), χ 2 (1, N = 50) = 8.14, p =.004; ES p = We also compared the proportion of participants who made either a Negative-Self statement or a Drive for Thinness statement across conditions to get an understanding of the total proportion of participants who reported a negative statement following viewing the slides. Not surprisingly, more participants in the Control Intervention-Media Images condition made at least one negative statement (proportion =.56) than participants in the Control Intervention-Car Images condition (proportion = 0), χ 2 (1, N = 50) = 19.44, p <.001; ES p = The parenting intervention was not expected to prevent participants from engaging in social comparison with the media images. As expected, few participants (proportion =.16) in the Control Intervention-Media Images condition made Discounting statements but a substantial proportion (.44) made an Idealizing statement. COMPARISON 2: CONTROL INTERVENTION-MEDIA IMAGES VERSUS EXPERIMENTAL INTERVENTIONS (ARTIFICIAL BEAUTY, GENETIC REALITIES, AND COMBINATION) In Comparison 2, the experimental interventions (i.e., Artificial Beauty, Genetic Realities, and Combination) were pooled and contrasted with the Control Intervention-Media Images condition to determine if they would prevent the harmful effects of media exposure. In accordance with predictions, participants who received one of the experimental interventions before exposure to media images, on average, reported significantly less Weight Concern (M = 33.0) than participants who received the control intervention before exposure to media images (M = 38.1), F(1,120) = 10.61, p <.005; Cohen s d =.74. The free response data revealed that the proportion of Negative-Self statements (proportion =.28 in the Control Intervention-Media Images condition,.19 in the intervention conditions) and Drive for Thinness statements (proportions =.28 in the Control Intervention-Media Images condition,.15 in the interven-

12 TARGETED INTERVENTIONS AND BODY IMAGE 335 tion conditions) were in the expected direction, although these differences did not achieve statistical significance ([χ 2 [1, N = 100] =.99, p =.32 for Negative-Self statements, χ 2 [1, N = 100] = 2.26, p =.13 for Drive for Thinness). However, participants who received an experimental intervention were less likely to make at least one statement reflective of body image disturbance (i.e., either a Negative-Self statement or a Drive for Thinness statement, proportion =.32) than participants in the Control Intervention-Media Images condition (proportion =.56), χ 2 (1, N = 100) = 4.58, p =.032; ES p =.49. It was expected that exposure to an experimental intervention would discourage participants from engaging in social comparison with the fashion models. Supporting this prediction, participants who received an experimental intervention were more likely to report a Discounting statement (proportion =.55), compared with those in the Control Intervention-Media Images condition (proportion =.16), χ 2 (1, N = 100) = 11.34, p =.001; ES p =.85, and were less likely to make an Idealizing statement (proportions:.21 vs.44), χ 2 (1, N = 100) = 4.89, p =.027; ES p =.50. COMPARISON 3: ARTIFICIAL BEAUTY AND GENETIC REALITIES VERSUS COMBINATION Comparison 3 was conducted to determine if the combination of the Artificial Beauty and Genetic Realities interventions was more effective than these messages presented alone. Although the mean Weight Concern was lower in the Combination condition (M = 31.0) than in the singular message conditions (M = 34.0), this difference only approached significance, F(1,120) = 3.22, p =.075. Similarly, comparisons between the combination and singular message conditions revealed no significant differences for Negative-Self statements (proportions:.20 vs..18, not significant [ns]), Drive for Thinness (proportions:.20 vs..12, ns), or for aggregate negative statements (proportions:.40 vs..28, ns). Although the Combination intervention did not prove to be more effective than the singular message conditions with regard to body image disturbance, participants in the Combination condition were more likely to make a Discounting statement (proportion =.80) than participants in the singular message conditions (proportion =.42), χ 2 (1, N = 75) = 9.71, p =.002; ES p =.80. No significant differences were found in the proportion of Idealizing statements in the Combination (.16) versus singular message conditions (.24), ns.

13 336 POSAVAC ET AL. COMPARISON 4: ARTIFICIAL BEAUTY VERSUS GENETIC REALITIES In Comparison 4, the possibility that there might be a difference in the effectiveness of the Artificial Beauty and Genetic Realities interventions was addressed. The Artificial Beauty condition did not significantly differ from the Genetic realities condition in preventing media influence on (a) Weight Concern (means: 34.2 vs. 33.8, ns); (b) Negative-Self statements (proportions:.24 vs..12, ns); (c) Drive for Thinness statements (proportions in both conditions =.12); or (d) aggregate negative statements (proportions:.32 vs..24, ns). There were no significant differences between the Artificial Beauty and Genetic Realities conditions in the proportion of Discounting statements (proportions:.48 vs..36, ns), or Idealizing statements (proportions:.28 vs..20, ns). DISCUSSION The results of the experiment suggest that the targeted interventions developed in this study may be useful in combating media-induced body image disturbance. Consistent with prior research (Heinberg & Thompson, 1995; Posavac et al., 1998; Richins, 1991; Stice & Shaw, 1994), participants exposed to media images reported more body image disturbance than participants exposed to neutral images. More importantly, participants exposed to an experimental intervention before media exposure generally reported less body image disturbance than participants not exposed to an experimental intervention. The data are consistent with our assumption that the interventions would be successful because they lead women to perceive the fashion models as dissimilar others and inappropriate targets for social comparison. In addition to providing insight into the processes that underlie the effectiveness of the interventions, these data also provide a manipulation check of the interventions. In accordance with the logic underlying the development of the interventions, participants who received a relevant intervention were less likely to engage in social comparison than participants who received the control intervention. Administration of the interventions developed in this study does not constitute a cure for body image disturbance. However, the present study is important because it describes one of the first empirically evaluated interventions designed to reduce the media s influence on women s body image disturbance (Irving et al., 1998; Levine et al., 1996). Although all of the interventions were equally effective in preventing media-induced body image disturbance, the Combination intervention

14 TARGETED INTERVENTIONS AND BODY IMAGE 337 appeared to be superior at reducing the likelihood of participants comparing themselves with the media images. Because of this finding, and directional (but not statistically significant) evidence that participants who received the Combination intervention reported less Weight Concern than participants in the singular theme conditions, we suggest that, pending future research, both themes should be presented in prevention interventions (i.e., the media image of female attractiveness is an unrealistic creation and most women s genetics predispose them to be heavier than fashion models). The experimental interventions were effective in reducing the harmful effects of media exposure on women s body image; however, several limitations of this study are apparent. First, although we assumed that media-induced body image disturbance occurs because the discrepancy that is perceived when women engage in social comparison with media images, these notions were not directly assessed. Nonetheless, the free response data indicate that, compared with participants who did not receive an experimental intervention before media exposure, participants who received an experimental intervention were less likely to engage in social comparison, be more concerned about their weight, and make a Negative-Self statement or Drive for Thinness statement. A second concern, as with nearly all programs or interventions aimed at prevention, regards the clinical utility of the findings. The presence of a change in subjective body image does not necessarily imply a change in behavior. For example, is a woman who views an experimental intervention less likely to engage in unhealthy eating patterns and excessive exercise? Furthermore, is such an individual less prone to develop depression or a diagnosable eating disorder? A related issue concerns the temporal stability of changes in body image. Specifically, do the effects persist over time, and if so, for how long? Future research could clarify these findings and examine the utility of these experimental interventions. First, to validate the proposed model of media-induced body image disturbance, future researchers could include direct measures to assess whether participants engage in social comparison and perceive self-ideal discrepancies. Second, more research needs to be done to explore the clinical utility of the interventions. Specifically, measures of temporal stability should be included to test the endurance of the acute attitude change. This could be done by repeated posttesting. Relatedly, determining the presence and types of associated behavioral changes would be useful. Lastly, efforts to investigate the effectiveness of the experimental interventions with a younger population are warranted, as body image disturbance is prevalent among young girls. Perhaps prevention efforts would be most useful

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