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House T, Wong HK, Samuel NW, Stephen ID, Brooks KR, Bould H, Attwood AS, Penton-Voak IS. The relationship between body dissatisfaction and attentional bias to thin bodies in Malaysian Chinese and White Australian women: a dot probe study. R Soc Open Sci 2023; 10:230674. [PMID: 37736527 PMCID: PMC10509588 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023]
Abstract
Studies suggest that an attentional bias to thin bodies is common among those with high levels of body dissatisfaction, which is a risk factor for, and symptom of, various eating disorders. However, these studies have predominantly been conducted in Western countries with body stimuli involving images of White people. In a preregistered study, we recruited 150 Malaysian Chinese women and 150 White Australian women for a study using standardized images of East Asian and White Australian bodies. To measure attentional bias to thin bodies, participants completed a dot probe task which presented images of women who self-identified their ethnicity as East Asian or as White Australian. Contrary to previous findings, we found no evidence for an association between body dissatisfaction and attentional bias to thin bodies. This lack of association was not affected by participant ethnicity (Malaysian Chinese versus White Australian) or ethnic congruency between participants and body stimuli (own-ethnicity versus other-ethnicity). However, the internal consistency of the dot probe task was poor. These results suggest that either the relationship between body dissatisfaction and attentional bias to thin bodies is not robust, or the dot probe task may not be a reliable measure of attentional bias to body size.
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Affiliation(s)
- T. House
- School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, UK
| | - H. K. Wong
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Malaysia
| | - N. W. Samuel
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Malaysia
| | - I. D. Stephen
- NTU Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
| | - K. R. Brooks
- School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia
- Perception in Action Research Centre (PARC), Macquarie University, Australia
- Lifespan Health and Wellbeing Research Centre, Macquarie University, Australia
| | - H. Bould
- Centre for Academic Mental Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, UK
- Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, Gloucester, UK
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, UK
- National Institute for Health Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, UK
| | - A. S. Attwood
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, UK
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, UK
- National Institute for Health Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, UK
| | - I. S. Penton-Voak
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, UK
- National Institute for Health Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, UK
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House T, Graham K, Ellis B, Bould H, Attwood AS, Stephen ID, Brooks KR, Penton-Voak IS. Is body dissatisfaction related to an attentional bias towards low weight bodies in non-clinical samples of women? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Body Image 2023; 44:103-119. [PMID: 36563472 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Body dissatisfaction is defined as the negative subjective evaluation of one's body and is considered a risk factor for, and symptom of, eating disorders. Some studies show women with high body dissatisfaction display an attentional bias towards low weight bodies; however, this finding is not consistent, and results are yet to be systematically synthesised. We conducted a qualitative and quantitative synthesis of cross-sectional studies investigating the relationship between body dissatisfaction and attentional bias to low weight bodies in non-clinical samples of women. We searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, ProQuest, and OpenGrey for studies up until September 2022. We identified 34 eligible studies involving a total of 2857 women. A meta-analysis of 26 studies (75 effects) found some evidence from gaze tracking studies for a positive association between body dissatisfaction and attentional bias to low weight bodies. We found no evidence for an association from studies measuring attention using the dot probe task, electroencephalogram (EEG) recording, or the modified spatial cueing task. The results together provide partial support for the positive association between body dissatisfaction and attentional bias to low weight bodies in women. These findings can be used to inform future attentional bias research.
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Affiliation(s)
- T House
- School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia; School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, United Kingdom.
| | - K Graham
- Cumbria Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
| | - B Ellis
- EPSRC CDT in Digital Health and Care, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - H Bould
- Centre for Academic Mental Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, United Kingdom; Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, Centre for Academic Mental Health, University of Bristol, United Kingdom; MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - A S Attwood
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, United Kingdom; MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - I D Stephen
- NTU Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - K R Brooks
- School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia
| | - I S Penton-Voak
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, United Kingdom; National Institute for Health Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, United Kingdom
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Mattys SL, Seymour F, Attwood AS, Munafò MR. Effects of acute anxiety induction on speech perception: are anxious listeners distracted listeners? Psychol Sci 2013; 24:1606-8. [PMID: 23761927 DOI: 10.1177/0956797612474323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- S L Mattys
- Department of Psychology, University of York, UK.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND We sought to ascertain the strength of evidence for association between the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and unipolar depression. METHOD We applied meta-analytic techniques to data from relevant published studies, and obtained an estimate of the likely magnitude of effect of any association. We also tested for possible publication bias, and explored the impact of various study design characteristics on the magnitude of the observed effect size. RESULTS Meta-analysis indicated evidence of a small but statistically significant association between the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and unipolar depression [odds ratio (OR) 1.08, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03-1.12]. This remained significant when data from samples of European and East Asian ancestry were analyzed separately. In all cases there was evidence of significant between-study heterogeneity, although the observed associations were robust to the application of a random-effects framework. CONCLUSIONS Our results support the presence of a small effect of a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter promoter on susceptibility to depression. However, we caution that it is possible that the effect has an artifactual basis, rather than a biological origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Clarke
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, UK
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Craig LC, Attwood AS, Benton CP, Penton-Voak IS, Munafò MR. Effects of acute alcohol consumption and alcohol expectancy on processing of perceptual cues of emotional expression. J Psychopharmacol 2009; 23:258-65. [PMID: 18562409 DOI: 10.1177/0269881108092126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
We recently demonstrated that alcohol elicits a difference between men and women in perceptual threshold for facial expressions of sadness. However, this study did not include a manipulation of alcohol expectancy. Therefore, we sought to determine whether these effects may be due to the expectation of having consumed alcohol. Male and female participants (n = 100) were randomised using a balanced-placebo design to receive either an alcoholic or a non-alcoholic drink and to be told that this was alcoholic or non-alcoholic. Participants completed a psychophysical task which presented male and female faces expressing angry, happy, and sad emotions. Analysis of threshold data indicated a significant two-way interaction of drink x target emotion, reflecting a higher threshold for the detection of sad facial expressions of emotion, compared with angry or happy expressions, in the alcohol condition compared with the placebo condition. We did not observe any evidence of sex differences in these effects. Our data indicate that alcohol modifies the perceptual threshold for facial expressions of sadness. Unlike our previous report, we did not observe evidence of sex differences in these effects. Most importantly, we did not observe any evidence that these effects were due to expectancy effects associated with alcohol consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- L C Craig
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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Attwood AS, Ohlson C, Benton CP, Penton-Voak IS, Munafò MR. Effects of acute alcohol consumption on processing of perceptual cues of emotional expression. J Psychopharmacol 2009; 23:23-30. [PMID: 18515455 DOI: 10.1177/0269881108089604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Alcohol consumption has been associated with increases in aggressive behaviour. However, experimental evidence of a direct association is equivocal, and mechanisms that may underlie this relationship are poorly understood. One mechanism by which alcohol consumption may increase aggressive behaviour is via alterations in processing of emotional facial cues. We investigated the effects of acute alcohol consumption on sensitivity to facial expressions of emotion. Participants attended three experimental sessions where they consumed an alcoholic drink (0.0, 0.2 or 0.4 g/kg), and completed a psychophysical task to distinguish expressive from neutral faces. The level of emotion in the expressive face varied across trials the threshold at which the expressive face was reliably identified and measured. We observed a significant three-way interaction involving emotion, participant sex and alcohol dose. Male participants showed significantly higher perceptual thresholds for sad facial expressions compared with female participants following consumption of the highest dose of alcohol. Our data indicate sex differences in the processing of facial cues of emotional expression following alcohol consumption. There was no evidence that alcohol altered the processing of angry facial expressions. Future studies should examine effects of alcohol expectancy and investigate the effects of alcohol on the miscategorisation of emotional expressions.
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Affiliation(s)
- A S Attwood
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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Attwood AS, Higgs S, Terry P. Differential responsiveness to caffeine and perceived effects of caffeine in moderate and high regular caffeine consumers. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2007; 190:469-77. [PMID: 17136398 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-006-0643-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2006] [Accepted: 11/06/2006] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Individual differences in responsiveness to caffeine occur even within a caffeine-consuming population, but the factors that mediate differential responsiveness remain unclear. OBJECTIVES To compare caffeine's effects on performance and mood in a group of high vs moderate consumers of caffeine and to examine the potential role of subjective awareness of the effects of caffeine in mediating any differential responsiveness. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two groups of regular caffeine consumers (<200 mg/day and >200 mg/day) attended two sessions at which mood and cognitive functions were measured before and 30 min after consumption of 400-mg caffeine or placebo in a capsule. Cognitive tests included visual information processing, match-to-sample visual search (MTS) and simple and choice reaction times. Post-session questionnaires asked participants to describe any perceived effect of capsule consumption. RESULTS High consumers, but not moderate consumers, demonstrated significantly faster simple and choice reaction times after caffeine relative to placebo. These effects were not attributable to obvious group differences in withdrawal or tolerance because there were no group differences in baseline mood or in reports of negative affect after caffeine. Instead, the high consumers were more likely to report experiencing positive effects of caffeine, whereas the moderate consumers were more likely to report no effect. CONCLUSIONS The sensitivity of caffeine consumers to the mood- and performance-enhancing effects of caffeine is related to their levels of habitual intake. High caffeine consumers are more likely than moderate consumers to perceive broadly positive effects of caffeine, and this may contribute to their levels of use.
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Affiliation(s)
- A S Attwood
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
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