Think fat, feel fat: Can Thought-Shape Fusion (TSF) cause increased body dissatisfaction in a laboratory setting?

Burton, Rachel (2011) Think fat, feel fat: Can Thought-Shape Fusion (TSF) cause increased body dissatisfaction in a laboratory setting? Northumbria University.

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Abstract

Thought-shape fusion (TSF) is a cognitive distortion which has been found to be associated with various degrees of eating pathology. It is the phenomenon that merely thinking about eating a fattening food evokes increased feelings of guilt, moral wrong-doing and perceptual weight gain. Previous research has shown that TSF can be experimentally induced in both clinical and non-clinical samples. To date, there have been no previous studies that have looked at body dissatisfaction in relation to TSF despite some studies showing that food-cue exposure can influence body dissatisfaction. The aims of the present study were to directly assess the relationship between TSF and level of dietary restraint in females in the North East of England (n=62) and to establish whether inducing TSF experimentally could bring about an increase in body dissatisfaction in those individuals with high levels of dietary restraint, using a 2 x 2 x 2 mixed design. It was predicted that there would be a positive association between TSF and level of dietary restraint and that experimentally induced TSF would result in an increase in body dissatisfaction in individuals with high dietary restraint but not those with low dietary restraint. As predicted, results indicated that high dietary restraint was associated with high levels of TSF. Furthermore, a significant increase in body dissatisfaction occurred following the TSF induction in the high dietary restraint group but no significant change was observed in the low dietary restraint group. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research findings and the possibilities of adapting this technique for therapeutic intervention are considered.