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We sought to understand how mothers of young adolescent girls who are perceived as overweight or at risk for becoming so and whose body mass indices are at the 70th percentile or higher socialize their daughters about body, weight, eating, and health. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 US mothers, and data were analyzed using constant comparison processes. Findings revealed that mothers adopted a variety of strategies - including teaching, modeling, managing, avoiding, and comforting - to achieve varied socialization goals for their daughters. Specifically, mothers sought to help their daughters to accept the self, reject the hegemonic ideal, maintain "healthful" eating, avoid overeating/monitor the self for over-eating, engage in regular physical activity, and/or navigate stigmatizing social situations. Mothers' sometimes experienced ambivalence or uncertainty as they socialized their daughters about the body, suggesting that they may benefit from professional counseling designed to resolve this tension/hesitancy., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We explored how viewing one's anthropometric virtual avatar would affect the viewer's self-body perception through the comparative evaluation of self-concepts—self-esteem and self-compassion, within the framework of allocentric lock theory. We recruited 18 female adults, aged 18–21, who identified themselves to have some level of body image concerns, and who had had no clinical treatment for their body image. Participants were randomly assigned either to the experimental or control group. The experimental group participated in both body positivity program and virtual avatar program, whereas the control group attended the body positivity program, only. The results affirmed that the body positivity program served as a psychological buffer prior to the virtual avatar stimulus. After the virtual avatar experience, the participants demonstrated self-acceptance by lowering their expectation on how they should look like. The findings from exit interviews enriched the quantitative results. This study verified the mechanism of the altered processing of the stored bodily memory by the egocentric sensory input of virtual avatars, and offered practical potential of the study outcomes to be applied in various emerging fields where novel applications of virtual 3D technology are sought, such as fashion e-commerce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experimental study aimed to investigate the effect of having a virtual avatar experience on health outcomes in the context of body image and weight regulation. Ninety-three U.S. non-clinical participants (51 men and 42 women) were recruited, who were 18 years and older and had no history of chronic health problems or mental illnesses. Each experiment consisted of the three data collection phases, including the pre-experiment survey, an experience session of a virtual self-avatar, and the post-experiment survey. For the development of the virtual avatar protocol, this study employed 3D body scanning to create a participant's virtual body model based on accurate anthropometric data, to simulate a virtual avatar closely matched with the participant's actual physique. Overall, the data indicated an increase in perceived body image discrepancy and a decrease in body satisfaction after participating in a virtual avatar session, and those who showed higher body dissatisfaction exhibited a stronger intention regulated for weight control. Specifically in gender, the statistical results were generally intensified in the female group, but the male group showed a stronger intention to be involved in exercising after virtual avatar experience. The insights gained from this study suggested future directions for research and program development, and urged that practical applications of the virtual avatar approach must be implemented with caution when it uses clinical samples, because its risk-benefit assessment has not been sufficiently investigated yet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study highlighted various meanings of physical appearance in obese individuals seeking bariatric surgery. Fourteen US adult patients participated in an in-depth, semi-structured interview that took 45 minutes to 2 hours. Data were transcribed verbatim and transferred into NVivo 10. A coding scheme was developed based on the themes inferred from content analysis. To increase the trustworthiness of data, this study adopted probing and external auditing methods. The interview data discovered values and significances of physical appearance in preoperative bariatric patients, including the signals of obesity stigma in the forms of direct, indirect, and environment, a visible tool to manage the negative social image towards obesity, and an aspirational pathway to a stigma-free life following post-surgical weight loss. The roles of clothing were also examined in the social negotiation processes through appearance management. Taken together, findings of this study contribute to understanding of the patients' negative quality of life that accrue from weight-related social stigmatization and their negotiation strategies, through the lens of physical appearance. Additionally, findings suggest important implications for practice. Study limitations and future research were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]