contemporary study - Becker et al Flashcards
aim - P1, A01
Becker aimed to investigate the effect of novel prolonged exposure to television on disordered eating attitudes and behaviours among ethnic Fijian adolescent girls.
sample - P1, A01
The sample used was 63 Fijian girls for the first sample and 65 Fijian girls for the second sample
weakness, not a representative sample - P1, A03
One weakness of the sample used is that it was not representative.
Generalising findings from Fiji to other populations is hard because Fiji traditionally has quire distinctive attitudes to body type (e.g., high BMIs are considered attractive).
The clash between Fijian cultural norms and those portrayed on American TV were much greater than is the case in most countries.
Therefore, this means that the results might have been affected by culture and may tell us little about the effect of TV on body image in other countries.
what type of experiment was Becker’s - P2, A01
This was a natural experiment to examine the impact of TV which was being introduced on the media naïve island.
It was a prospective study using a cross sectional design of two cohorts of Fijian high school girls.
procedure - P2, A01
Becker initially tested 63 girls from two high schools in the Nadroga area in 1995 before TV exposure, and a different set of 65 girls in 1998 following 3 years of TV exposure.
Both sets of girls were given the EAT-26 questionnaire to identify disordered body image and eating behaviours.
Additionally the 1998 cohort we asked further questions and a select group of 30 girls with a high EAT-26 score were interviewed about TV viewing, eating behaviours and relationships with parents.
strength, reliable measurements - P2, A03
One strength of the study is the use of reliable measurements. Rivas et al found good internal reliability – a correlation of +9 for each item and the overall result (where +1.0 is perfect reliability).
Studies have generally shown good reliability for the EAT-26, the main measures of eating behaviour used in this study.
Therefore, this means that differences between the 1995 and 1998 samples were likely to be due to real changes over time and not due to unreliability of the measures.
COUNTER ARGUMENT strength, reliable measurements - P2, A03
However, although reliability of the EAT-26 is good, there are issues with its validity. For example, we would expect that scores on the EAT-26 would predict eating disorders but that was not the case in a further study by Nunes et al in 2005 of Brazilian women.
Therefore, this means that the EAT-26 may be high in reliability but not have high validity so fails to predict the eating disorders of people as it is thought to do.
results and conclusions - P3, A01
Becker found an 11% rise in induced vomiting and the EAT-26 score of >20 almost doubled in the 1998 cohort.
Interview data showed that girls in 1998 believed that they needed to be thin to be as successful as the role models on TV, we experiencing intergenerational conflict and wanted to lose weight.
Becker concluded that the media caused disordered body image and eating behaviour.
strength of findings - P3, A03
One strength of the study is that the findings have been applied to treating eating disorders.
The findings that modelling in the mass media may have a negative impact in body image and eating behaviour can be applied to advice for TV programming and advertising (e.g., use of ‘larger-size’ models).
It can also be applied to treatments for eating disorders – if behaviours and attitudes can be learned through modelling, they can be unlearned in a similar way.
Therefore, this means that these applications of Becker’s study demonstrate its significance in both avoiding and treating eating disorders.
