Cognitive Defusion and Psychological Flexibility Predict Negative Body Image in the Chinese College Students: Evidence from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Abstract

Body dissatisfaction is a global phenomenon. Despite the significant cultural difference, most research on negative body image was conducted in Western countries. How do cognitive fusion and psychological flexibility relate to negative body image in the Chinese population? In the present study, this question was investigated through the intervention technique, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Here, 86 young Chinese university students with high negative physical self were invited, in which 42 students received 10 sessions of group-based ACT intervention in a clinical setting while the remained acted as the control group with no intervention. Pretests showed no statistical differences in negative body image between these two groups, while both cognitive fusion and psychological flexibility predicted negative body image. Post-pre tests showed no change in the control group, while enhanced cognitive defusion and psychological flexibility in the ACT group. Individual differences in psychological flexibility and cognitive defusion enhancement predicted improved body image. A strong association of implicit body image with Fatness and Shortness changes suggested that although with individual differences, those components could be internalized during the intervention in the College students.

Psychological mechanism of acceptance and commitment therapy and rational emotive behavior therapy for treating hoarding: Evidence from randomized controlled trials

“…Patterns of behavioral avoidance have been observed in most hoarding patients (25,98). Additionally, the primary goal of ACT is to reduce cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance and increase psychological flexibility so that individuals can reduce their avoidance behaviors and act in accordance with their values (32,36,58).…”

“…According to the cognitive model of hoarding, the manifestation of hoarding (e.g., difficulty discarding, clutter, and acquiring) stems from a variety of avoidance behaviors aiming to avoid distress (3). Acceptance commitment therapy, as a third-wave CBT, can reduce experiential avoidance by increasing psychological flexibility while encouraging participants to make behavioral changes consistent with their values (35,58). Hoarding behaviors are considered lifelong, and therefore, treatment should focus on symptom improvement rather than complete remission (46,59), which is consistent with the notion of not changing symptoms but only the relationship with distress in the ACT.…”

Management of Students' Self-Acceptance of Body Image: A Case in a Seventh Grade Junior High School Student

“…If the student can accept himself well, then the student has a good personality as well as good mental development as well. Then there are several areas of guidance in guidance and counseling, including the field of personal development (Fang et al, 2022). Where in this field of personal development, personal development material that can be developed in guidance themes include: recognizing strengths and weaknesses, increasing self-confidence, developing self-strengths, alleviating self-weaknesses, meaning and purpose of worship, religious values as a guideline for life, knowing self-feelings and how to express them effectively, stress management, and recognizing social roles as men or women (Putra et al, 2020).…”

The thin-ideal across two cultural contexts: The role of body image inflexibility and the fear of negative evaluation.

“…We opted to focus on two factors in particular in the current study; fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and body image inflexibility (BII). BII has recently been shown to be a potent influence on thin-ideal internalization across cultures (Fang et al, 2022; Morton et al, 2020; Tan et al, 2019; Wu et al, 2022) so seems a pertinent variable to consider in this case. FNE meanwhile also is a well-established predictor of appearance-related outcomes but importantly this relationship has been shown to vary cross-culturally.…”