Efficacy of Mindfulness on the Food-Related Attention Bias and the Body Image in the Overweight People

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Psychology, Bojnourd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bojnourd, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Quchan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Quchan, Iran.

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Bojnourd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bojnourd, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction and purpose: Overweight and obesity can lead to psychological and emotional damages in the people. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of mindfulness on the food-related attention bias and the body image in the overweight people.
Mythology: The research method of the present study was quasi-experimental with pretest, posttest, control group and three-month follow-up period. The statistical population of the study included the overweight people with above-25 BMI who referred to the body weight control centers in the city of Mashhad in 2019 and were selected through purposive sampling method; 36 subjects were selected from them according to inclusion and exclusion criteria and they were randomly accommodated into experimental and control groups. The instrument to assess the subjects included the computerized test of food emotional stroop to assess food-related attention bias and body image questionnaire (Brown et.al, 1990) to assess the persons’ attitude toward his/her body image which was administered in three stages before and after eight-week intervention of mindfulness and three-month follow-up after finishing the intervention on the subjects. The data analysis of the study was conducted through repeated measurement ANOVA.
Findings: The result of data analysis showed the significant difference between the subjects’ reaction time to the food emotional stroop test and the gotten scores from the body image questionnaire in two groups and it proves significant efficacy of mindfulness intervention method on the degree of food-related attention bias and the body image in the overweight people.

Keywords

References

زرشناس، س.، کربلایی نوری، ا.، حسینی، س.ع.، رهگذر، م.، سیدنور، ر.، مشتاق، ن. (1389). تأثیر ورزش هوازی بر نگرش زنان در مورد تصویر بدنی، مجله توانبخشی، ۱۱(۲)، ۱۵-۲۰.
عزیززاده فروزی، م.، محمدعلیزاده، س.، حقدوست، ع.ا.، گروسی، ب.، شمس الدین سعید، ن. (1388). ارتباط تصویر ذهنی از بدن با اختلالات خوردن، پژوهش پرستاری، ۴(۱۵)، ۳۳-۴۳.
Alamout, M. M., Rahmanian, M., Aghamohammadi, V., Mohammadi, E., & Nasiri, K. (2020). Effectiveness of mindfulness based cognitive therapy on weight loss, improvement of hypertension and attentional bias to eating cues in overweight people. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 7 (1), 35–40.
Baquedano, C., Vergara, R., Lopez, V., Fabar, C., Cosmelli, D., & Lutz, A. (2017). Compared to self-immersion, mindful attention reduces salivation and automatic food bias. Scientific Reports, 7 (1), 23–41.
Bergman, K. (2018). Effects of mindfulness on weight loss. Obesity Reviews, 19 (9), 1309.
Bosy-Westphal, A., & Müller, M. J. (2021). Diagnosis of obesity based on body composition‐associated health risks—Time for a change in paradigm. Obesity Reviews, 86–106.
Brown, T.A., Cash, T.F., & Mikulka, P.J. (1990). Attitudinal Body-Image Assessment: Factor Analysis of the Body-Self Relations Questionnaire. Journal of Personality Assessment, 55 (1–2), 135–144.
Canuto, R., Garcez, A., Souza, R. V., Kac, G., & Olinto, M. T. A. (2020). Nutritional intervention strategies for the management of overweight and obesity in primary health care: A systematic review with meta analysis. Obesity Reviews, 22 (3), 126–151.
Dobbs, R., Corinne, S., Thompson, F., Manyika, J., Woetzel, J., Child, P. Spatharou, A. (2014). Overcoming obesity: An initial economic analysis. McKinsey Global Institute.
Fadardi, J.S., & Bazzaz, M.M. (2011). A Combi-Stroop test for measuring food-related attentional bias. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 19 (5), 371–377.
Felske, A. N., Williamson, T. M., Rash, J. A., Telfer, J. A., Toivonen, K. I., & Campbell, T. (2020). Proof of Concept for a Mindfulness-Informed Intervention for Eating Disorder Symptoms, Self-Efficacy, and Emotion Regulation among Bariatric Surgery Candidates. Behavioral Medicine, 1–14.
Garland, E.L., Froeliger, B., & Howard, M.O. (2014). Mindfulness Training Targets Neurocognitive Mechanisms of Addiction at the Attention-Appraisal-Emotion Interface. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 4 (01), 26–38.
Garland, E.L., Manusov, E. G., Froeliger, B., Kelly, A., Williams, J. M., & Howard, M. O. (2014). Mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement for chronic pain and prescription opioid misuse: Results from an early-stage randomized controlled trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 82 (3), 448–459.
Gearhardt, A.N., & Hebebrand, J. (2021). The concept of “food addiction” helps inform the understanding of overeating and obesity: YES. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 113 (2), 263–267.
Hagan, K. E., Alasmar, A., Exum, A., Chinn, B., & Forbush, K. T. (2020). A systematic review and meta-analysis of attentional bias toward food in individuals with overweight and obesity. Appetite, 151, 104710.
  Jiang, M.Y.W., Vartanian, L.R. (2018).A review of existing measures of attentional biases in body image and eating disorders research. Australian Journal of Psychology, 70 (1), pp. 3-17.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness‐Based Interventions in Context: Past, Present, and Future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10 (2), 144–156.
Li, W., Howard, M. O., Garland, E. L., McGovern, P., & Lazar, M. (2017). Mindfulness treatment for substance misuse: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 75, 62–96.
Markey, C.H., Dunaev, J.L., August, K.J. (2020). Body image experiences in the context of chronic pain: An examination of associations among perceptions of pain, body dissatisfaction, and positive body image. Body Image, 32, 103-110.
McLean, S.A., & Paxton, S.J. (2019). Body Image in the Context of Eating Disorders. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 42 (1), 145–156.
Meissel, E.E.E., Liu, H., Stevens, E. S., Evans, T.C., Britton, J.C., Letkiewicz, A.M., & Shankman, S.A. (2021). The Reliability and Validity of Response-Based Measures of Attention Bias. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 102–118.
O’Reilly, G.A., Cook, L., Spruijt-Metz, D., & Black, D.S. (2014). Mindfulness-based interventions for obesity-related eating behaviours: a literature review. Obesity Reviews, 15 (6), 453–461.
Porras Garcia, B., Ferrer‐Garcia, M., Yilmaz, L., Sen, Y. O., Olszewska, A., Ghita, A., Serrano-Troncoso, E., Treasure, J., & Gutiérrez‐Maldonado, J. (2020). Body‐related attentional bias as mediator of the relationship between body mass index and body dissatisfaction. European Eating Disorders Review, 28 (4), 454–464.
Renwick, B., Campbell, I. C., & Schmidt, U. (2013). Attention bias modification: A new approach to the treatment of eating disorders? International Journal of Eating Disorders, 46 (5), 496–500.
Rogers, J.M., Ferrari, M., Mosely, K., Lang, C.P., & Brennan, L. (2016). Mindfulness-based interventions for adults who are overweight or obese: a meta-analysis of physical and psychological health outcomes. Obesity Reviews, 18 (1), 51–67.
Silveira, E. A., Kliemann, N., Noll, M., Sarrafzadegan, N., & Oliveira, C. (2020). Visceral obesity and incident cancer and cardiovascular disease: An integrative review of the epidemiological evidence. Obesity Reviews, 22 (1), 174–199.
Stice, E., Gau, J. M., Rohde, P., & Shaw, H. (2017). Risk factors that predict future onset of each DSM–5 eating disorder: Predictive specificity in high-risk adolescent females. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 126 (1), 38–51.
Sun, W., Chen, D., Wang, J., Liu, N., & Zhang, W. (2018). Physical activity and body image dissatisfaction among pregnant women: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 229(1), 38-44.

Thompson, J.K., Schaefer, L.M. (2019). Thomas F. Cash: A multidimensional innovator in the measurement of body image; Some lessons learned and some lessons for the future of the field. Body Image, 31, 198-203.

Verhaeghen, P. (2020). Mindfulness as Attention Training: Meta-Analyses on the Links Between Attention Performance and Mindfulness Interventions, Long-Term Meditation Practice, and Trait Mindfulness. Mindfulness, 26–37.
Witkiewitz, K., Bowen, S., Harrop, E. N., Douglas, H., Enkema, M., & Sedgwick, C. (2014). Mindfulness-Based Treatment to Prevent Addictive Behavior Relapse: Theoretical Models and Hypothesized Mechanisms of Change. Substance Use & Misuse, 49 (5), 513–524.
Woltering, S., Chen, S., & Jia, Y. (2021). Neural Correlates of Attentional Bias to Food Stimuli in Obese Adolescents. Brain Topography, 34 (2), 182–191.
Yu, J., Song, P., Zhang, Y., & Wei, Z. (2020). Effects of Mindfulness-Based Intervention on the Treatment of Problematic Eating Behaviors: A Systematic Review. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 26 (8), 666–679.
Medical Journal of Mashhad university of Medical Sciences
Volume 65, Issue 2
May and June 2022
Pages 813-824

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics