Definition
Dissonance-based eating disorder prevention programs use Socratic questioning to give women an opportunity to discuss the adverse effects of pursuit of the culturally promoted thin ideal, which reduces subscription to this unrealistic beauty ideal and produces consequent reductions in eating disorder risk factors and symptoms as well as future onset of eating disorders.
Historical Background
Because early eating disorder prevention programs did not reduce eating disorder symptoms, scientists tried to harness the power of persuasion principles that emerged from basic social psychology research to create an efficacious eating disorder prevention program (Stice et al. 2008). The result was a dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program, wherein young women voluntarily critique the thin beauty ideal espoused by Western culture in verbal, written, and behavioral exercises, which reduces thin-ideal internalization because humans seek to maintain consistency between their...
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References and Further Reading
Becker, C., Wilson, C., Williams, A., Kelly, M., McDaniel, L., & Elmquist, J. (2010). Peer-facilitated cognitive dissonance versus healthy weight eating disorders prevention: A randomized comparison. Body Image, 7, 280–288. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2010.06.004.
Green, M., Scott, N., Diyankova, I., Gasser, C., & Pederson, E. (2005). Eating disorder prevention: An experimental comparison of high level dissonance, low level dissonance, and no-treatment control. Eating Disorders, 13, 157–169. doi:10.1037/a0024351.
Halliwell, E., & Diedrichs, P. (2014). Brief report: Testing a dissonance body image intervention among young girls. Healthy Psychology, 33, 201–204.
McMillan, W., Stice, E., & Rohde, P. (2011). High- and low-level dissonance-based eating disorder prevention programs with young women with body image concerns: An experimental trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79, 129–134. doi:10.1037/a0022143.
Paschall, M., Antin, T., Ringwalt, C., & Saltz, R. (2011). Effects of AlcoholEdu for college on alcohol-related problems among freshmen: A randomized multicampus trial. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 72, 642–650.
Seidel, A., Presnell, K., & Rosenfield, D. (2009). Mediators in the dissonance eating disorder prevention program. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47, 645–653. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2009.04.007.
Stice, E., Marti, C., Spoor, S., Presnell, K., & Shaw, H. (2008). Dissonance and healthy weight eating disorder prevention programs: Long-term effects from a randomized efficacy trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76, 329–340. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.76.2.329.
Stice, E., Rohde, P., Gau, J., & Shaw, H. (2009). An effectiveness trial of a dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program for high-risk adolescent girls. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77, 825–834.
Stice, E., Rohde, P., Shaw, H., & Gau, J. (2011). An effectiveness trial of a selected dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program for female high school students: Long-term effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79, 500–508. doi:10.1037/a0024351.
Stice, E., Rohde, P., Shaw, H., & Marti, C. N. (2012). Efficacy trial of a selected prevention program targeting both eating disorder symptoms and unhealthy weight gain among female college students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80, 164–170.
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Stice, E., Menke, K. (2017). Dissonance-Based Eating Disorder Prevention Programs. In: Wade, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Feeding and Eating Disorders. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-104-6_135
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-104-6_135
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