Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Yükseköğretim Kurumları Destekli Proje, BAP Diğer, 2021 - 2021
"Body dissatisfaction is characterized by negative and catastrophic cognitions of one’s physical appearance, body size, or body shape. People who feel body dissatisfaction tend to perceive a discrepancy between their current body and ‘ideal’ body. To date, it has been shown that body dissatisfaction is closely related to negative emotions such as anger, sadness, guilt, etc. Although body dissatisfaction is prevalent in all age groups in almost all cultures, it is common, especially in young women. It is well known that body dissatisfaction can reduce life quality and create a vulnerability for mental health difficulties. When the impairing and debilitating mental and physical health outcomes of body dissatisfaction-related eating problems are considered, prevention studies become more crucial. When previous studies are reviewed, it is seen that there is no standardized, effective, and efficient intervention to reduce body dissatisfaction of young people in Turkey. In the scope of the current study, it is planned to translate, adapt, and evaluate the effectiveness of the Virtual form of the Body Project (vBP) which was initially developed by Stice, Mazotti, Weibel, & Agras (2000).Since then, Stice & colleagues and other independent researchers from different countries have been continuously testing the effectiveness of the program on different populations and it is showed that the vBP significantly reduces risk factors for eating disorders. In order to test the vBP’s effectiveness, a pretest-posttest experimental research design will be conducted in the scope of this project. That is, female college students with body dissatisfaction (N = 100) will be randomly assigned into control (N = 50) and intervention groups (N = 50). After the randomization, all participants will be assessed by using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), Body Mass Index (BMI), Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDEQ), Body Image Quality of Life (BIQL), and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Afterwards, the intervention group will be given the Virtual Body Project intervention that includes 1-hour weekly session for 4 consecutive weeks. The control group will be waiting without any intervention. When the vBP intervention is completed in the intervention group, all participants will be measured again (post-test) by using the BSI, BMI, EDEQ, BIQL, and RSES. Finally, posttest scores on all the above-mentioned measurement tools of the intervention and control groups will be compared to determine whether the vBP intervention is effective or not. Besides, within-subject comparisons will be done by using the pretest and posttest scores of each group. If the vBP intervention is found to effective in terms of reducing psychological symptoms, it will also be applied to the control group. The intervention group is expected to show a significant decrease in disordered eating behaviors and body dissatisfaction as compared to the control group. The intervention group is also expected to show an increase in self-esteem when compared to the control group. The expected results of this preliminary study suggest that the vBP is effective for preventing eating disorders and can be used by professionals."