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Re-Imagining the Body: Identity and Values-Based Predictors of Body Appreciation and the Impact of a Single-Session Classroom-Based Intervention for Adolescents

Kusina, Jessica R.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1616349444157389

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Psychology.
Body image research has historically focused on body dissatisfaction and its connection to disordered eating, though there has been a more recent shift to explore positive body image. While there is a growing literature investigating the causes, consequences, and correlates of positive body image in adults, relatively little is known about these relationships during adolescence. Adolescence is a time of significant development in various domains, including the physical, as well as a time when beliefs about the self and world are explored. As such, adolescence is a natural time to examine links between body image, identity, and personal values. The current study explored the relationship between positive body image and religious and spiritual (r/s) values in particular through a two-part approach that took place in high schools. In part one of the study, adolescents (N = 85; 75.3% self-identified girls) completed various questionnaire measures pertaining to personal values and body image. Higher levels of sanctification of the body and self-worth contingent upon perceptions of God’s love predicted more body appreciation. For adolescent girls in particular, the relationship between sanctification of the body and body appreciation was partially mediated by internalization of the thin ideal. In part two of the study, adolescents (N = 83) engaged in one of three conditions (traditional, values/identity, control) that entailed small group discussion and personal letter-writing activities pertaining to body image. None of the conditions contributed to statistically significant improvements in body image, though participants’ qualitative responses revealed that adolescents found the activities to be meaningful and beneficial. Research findings help explain relationships between identity, personal values, and positive body image during adolescence and reveal prevention program elements that may help foster positive body image.
Julie Exline, PhD (Committee Chair)
Sandra Russ, PhD (Committee Member)
Carolyn Ievers-Landis, PhD (Committee Member)
Justine Howe, PhD (Committee Member)
153 p.
Clinical Psychology
body image; body appreciation; religion; spirituality; sanctification; adolescence; prevention; high school

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kusina, J. R. (2021). Re-Imagining the Body: Identity and Values-Based Predictors of Body Appreciation and the Impact of a Single-Session Classroom-Based Intervention for Adolescents [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1616349444157389

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kusina, Jessica. Re-Imagining the Body: Identity and Values-Based Predictors of Body Appreciation and the Impact of a Single-Session Classroom-Based Intervention for Adolescents. 2021. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1616349444157389.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kusina, Jessica. "Re-Imagining the Body: Identity and Values-Based Predictors of Body Appreciation and the Impact of a Single-Session Classroom-Based Intervention for Adolescents." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1616349444157389

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1616349444157389
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This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.