The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The role of imagery and the self in the eating disorders

The role of imagery and the self in the eating disorders
The role of imagery and the self in the eating disorders
The first part of this thesis is a systematic review evaluating the role of spontaneous imagery and the use of imagery techniques in people with eating disorders and sub-clinical populations. 14 studies were selected for review and their methodological quality was assessed. The findings suggest spontaneous images of items such as the self, food and social interactions are present more often in people with eating disorders than those without and could be a potential maintaining factor in the disorders. The findings suggest imagery techniques including guided imagery, positive self-imagery and imagery rescripting can effect change in several key aspects of the eating disorders. However, this body of research is in its infancy and the quality of the studies included means the results must be interpreted with caution.

Eating disorders are characterised by a negative sense of self and current eating disorder treatments typically use verbal based techniques such as cognitive restructuring to target these views of the self. Imagery has shown promise in targeting aspects of the self, however no studies have compared whether one approach is more effective than the other. The empirical part of this thesis compared a positive self-imagery intervention with a cognitive restructuring intervention on aspects of the self (self-concept clarity, self discrepancies, self-esteem), affect and eating pathology in a sub-clinical eating disorder population. Both interventions reduced negative state self-esteem, eating pathology and bingeing behaviour and had no effect on self-concept clarity or self-discrepancies. Only the imagery intervention improved positive state self-esteem and positive affect and reduced negative affect and restricting behaviour. The imagery intervention was more effective compared to the control group than the verbal intervention, however, there were no significant differences between the effectiveness of the interventions when compared with each other. Clinical implications, limitations and future research directions are discussed.
University of Southampton
Bramwell, Kate Louise
a0790f6f-9558-410b-bf40-01e2b10d4588
Bramwell, Kate Louise
a0790f6f-9558-410b-bf40-01e2b10d4588
Stopa, Lusia
b52f29fc-d1c2-450d-b321-68f95fa22c40
Turner, Hannah
11575e72-c15d-4a0a-99c7-9b1782ba96e2

Bramwell, Kate Louise (2018) The role of imagery and the self in the eating disorders. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis, 168pp.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

The first part of this thesis is a systematic review evaluating the role of spontaneous imagery and the use of imagery techniques in people with eating disorders and sub-clinical populations. 14 studies were selected for review and their methodological quality was assessed. The findings suggest spontaneous images of items such as the self, food and social interactions are present more often in people with eating disorders than those without and could be a potential maintaining factor in the disorders. The findings suggest imagery techniques including guided imagery, positive self-imagery and imagery rescripting can effect change in several key aspects of the eating disorders. However, this body of research is in its infancy and the quality of the studies included means the results must be interpreted with caution.

Eating disorders are characterised by a negative sense of self and current eating disorder treatments typically use verbal based techniques such as cognitive restructuring to target these views of the self. Imagery has shown promise in targeting aspects of the self, however no studies have compared whether one approach is more effective than the other. The empirical part of this thesis compared a positive self-imagery intervention with a cognitive restructuring intervention on aspects of the self (self-concept clarity, self discrepancies, self-esteem), affect and eating pathology in a sub-clinical eating disorder population. Both interventions reduced negative state self-esteem, eating pathology and bingeing behaviour and had no effect on self-concept clarity or self-discrepancies. Only the imagery intervention improved positive state self-esteem and positive affect and reduced negative affect and restricting behaviour. The imagery intervention was more effective compared to the control group than the verbal intervention, however, there were no significant differences between the effectiveness of the interventions when compared with each other. Clinical implications, limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Text
The role of imagery and the self in the eating disorders - Version of Record
Available under License University of Southampton Thesis Licence.
Download (1MB)

More information

Published date: May 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 425917
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/425917
PURE UUID: c6a0310f-6862-4a5a-b9bc-00821bb08b07

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 06 Nov 2018 17:30
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 04:01

Export record

Contributors

Author: Kate Louise Bramwell
Thesis advisor: Lusia Stopa
Thesis advisor: Hannah Turner

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×