Start Date
13-12-2022 6:20 PM
Description
Eating disorders are one of the deadliest mental illnesses. Although many on-screen portrayals of eating disorders exist, the visual nature of film causes concern that these depictions could negatively affect viewers’ self-esteem or trigger them to engage in disordered eating themselves. Most previous research on eating disorder portrayals in film examines the impact of body image and extreme thinness on the viewer, but neglects to examine the impact of eating disorder behavior. In response, the proposed experiment examines how a fictional on-screen portrayal of eating disorder behavior affects the body-esteem of college-aged women. Sixty female-identifying students will be recruited and randomly assigned to watch either an eating disorder-related film clip or a neutral control clip. Afterward, they will complete a self-report measure of body-esteem and a concurrent behavioral measure, the number of snacks consumed while filling out the questionnaire. It is expected that the participants who watch the eating disorder clip will have significantly lower scores of body-esteem and consume fewer snacks than the participants who watch the neutral clip.
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Eating Disorders in Film and Body-Esteem in College-Aged Women
Eating disorders are one of the deadliest mental illnesses. Although many on-screen portrayals of eating disorders exist, the visual nature of film causes concern that these depictions could negatively affect viewers’ self-esteem or trigger them to engage in disordered eating themselves. Most previous research on eating disorder portrayals in film examines the impact of body image and extreme thinness on the viewer, but neglects to examine the impact of eating disorder behavior. In response, the proposed experiment examines how a fictional on-screen portrayal of eating disorder behavior affects the body-esteem of college-aged women. Sixty female-identifying students will be recruited and randomly assigned to watch either an eating disorder-related film clip or a neutral control clip. Afterward, they will complete a self-report measure of body-esteem and a concurrent behavioral measure, the number of snacks consumed while filling out the questionnaire. It is expected that the participants who watch the eating disorder clip will have significantly lower scores of body-esteem and consume fewer snacks than the participants who watch the neutral clip.
Comments
Mentored by Vandana Thadani, Ph.D.