Emma Halliwell

Objective: To examine men’s body dissatisfaction qualitatively. Design: Forty-two British men aged 18–45 years took part in a two-session group intervention across 12 groups. The intervention was designed to improve body dissatisfaction by engaging them in a critique of the appearance ideal through written and behavioural exercises. Main outcome measures/results: Analysis of the topics discussed during the intervention generated two core themes. Theme 1 showed that, in general, men minimised the existence of their own body dissatisfaction while (somewhat surprisingly) outlining the ubiquity and potency of the appearance ideal for men in general. Theme 2 involved men reporting the problematic impact of body dissatisfaction in their lives (despite earlier minimisation), such as social avoidance, strict eating and supplement regimes, or difficulty in situations where the body was exposed. Conclusion: The results stress the need to acknowledge that men experience a range of impacts of body dissatisfaction beyond clinical presentations (such as disordered eating) that influence their everyday lives, while also recognising that they tend to minimise this dissatisfaction in conversation. These findings have important implications for advocacy and interventions to improve men’s body dissatisfaction.

Negative body image is prevalent in women with rheumatoid arthritis and can affect other areas of well-being. Patients have expressed desire for body image to be addressed in treatment. Yet, it is not routinely addressed and no experimental intervention research has been conducted, until now. This randomized trial evaluated a brief online body image intervention for women with rheumatoid arthritis, with a focus on body functionality (everything the body is capable of doing) as the primary technique. Women with rheumatoid arthritis and who wanted to feel better about their body (N = 84; Mage = 44.82) were randomized to the Expand Your Horizon intervention (comprising 3 writing exercises focusing on body functionality) or a waitlist control group. Primary outcomes concerned body image and secondary outcomes related to rheumatoid arthritis; these outcomes were assessed at pretest, posttest, and at 1-week and 1-month follow-up. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that, relative to control, participants in the intervention experienced improvements in various aspects of body image (functionality appreciation, body appreciation, body satisfaction, body-self alienation) and decreases in depression, with effects persisting at 1-week and 1-month follow-up. No intervention effects were found for body-self harmony, rheumatoid arthritis-specific disability, pain-related disability, and anxiety. Focusing on body functionality can improve body image and reduce depression in women with rheumatoid arthritis. The intervention technique is easy and affordable to deliver and could be a fruitful addition to extant treatments for rheumatoid arthritis. (PsycINFO Database Record

Aim: The current study assessed a new interpersonal model for eating disorders (EDs), in which interpersonal rejection sensitivity (RS), appearance‐based RS and social rank were hypothesised to mediate the relationship between insecure attachment and disordered eating.Method: The sample comprised a clinical ED group (N = 122) and a control group (N = 622). Participants were asked to complete a number of self‐report measures related to the variables of interest.Results: Invariance testing indicated that the model was structurally non‐invariant (different across groups). For the ED group, appearance‐based RS and social rank were significant mediators of the relationship between insecure attachment and disordered eating. For the controls, the relationship between insecure attachment and disordered eating was mediated through multiple pathways involving interpersonal RS, appearance‐based RS and social rank.Conclusion: These findings may inform existing therapies such as interpersonal psychotherapy for EDs, by emphasising the role of sensitivity to rejection in the development and maintenance of disordered eating. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.