SLT of AN

• What do young people observe

  Young people observe role models (e.g. a sibling or friend) trying to lose weight in order to have a skinny body shape and imitate this behaviour (modelling).
• How do young people try to imitate losing weight

  By dieting and undereating, leading to weight loss and increasing risk of developing anorexic tendencies. This is especially the case if the role model has been reinforced/rewarded for their skinny body shape (e.g. receiving compliments) as the observer will seek the same reward and may try hard to avoid food to lose weight (vicarious reinforcement)
• What if the observer identifies with the role model

  If the observer identifies with the role model (e.g. shares characteristics with them or sees them as attractive and having high status), they are even more likely to imitate their anorexic tendencies to lose weight further increasing the likelihood they will develop AN. People also use forums and social network (which act as a support network) and role models
• According to SLT - the media is a major source of what

  • According to SLT the media is a major source of influence for the body image attitudes maintained by western adolescents
• Changes in media in the last 50 years and how this changes the view of standard female attraction

  • In the last 50 yrs female role models are taller and slimmer.
  • This is demonstrated by images of women in magazines over time.
  • This exposure to media changes the view of standard female attractiveness and leads to dissatisfaction and a desire to lose weight
  • Leads to anorexia
• How is anorexia learnt and maintained

  • Anorexia is a learnt beh through observation and maintained through positive reinforcement.
  • If they do manage to lose weight, the reinforcement will be direct in the form of praise and attention from friends and family
  • Therefore anorexia becomes a learned beh through observation which is maintained by positive reinforcement
• S - support for the role of peers as RM. Costa-Font and Bonet - investigated the effect of peer weight on the likelihood of developing AN. Found - if peers had a larger BMI - lower likelihood of developing an eating disorder such as AN. Association between BMI and likelihood of becoming AN was even more marked in younger women. Suggests that having peers with a higher than average BMI reduces chances of developing eating disorders. Whereas having peers with a lower than average BMI increases the chances of AN. This is inline with SLT assumption that RMs can impact eating beh.

  Increases V
• S - SLT AN - evidence for the role of the media in shaping perceptions of body image from studies of societies where TV has been introduced. Becker studied eating behs among adolescent Fijian girls, following the introduction of TV in 1995. The girls stated a desire to lose weight to become more like western TV characters. After 5 yrs there were a sig number of girls with AN, even though the disorder was absent before the introduction of TV. Supports SLT as it shows that exposure to thin RMs may lead to dissatisfaction with ones own body and contributes to the development of AN tendencies. V
• W - SLT AN - can't explain why only some ppl develop AN. Everyone in western society is exposed to the same media images but only a minority of individuals develop eating disorders. Suggests that there are other factors that make an individual vulnerable. Vulnerability factors identified include perfectionism, high social anxiety and low self esteem. It's clear that media is not directly responsible for disordered eating. Therefore SLT exp is incomplete. Decrease V
• W - SLT AN - cultural and gender bias. Focus of the R is still on a predominantly western female population. Though there is an increasing number of cross cultural R, most R still takes place within the West and AN patients were mainly female. This limited our understanding of AN for men which might work diff. SLT is better at explaining development of AN in western females. Further work is needed to get a full understanding of the complexities of AN
• EVAL points for SLT of AN

  • S - support for the role of peers as RM (Costa-Font and Bonet)
  • S - evidence for the role of the media in shaping perceptions of body image from studies of societies where TV has been introduced (Becker)
  • W - can't explain why only some ppl develop AN
  • W - cultural and gender bias