PSY221P121
Eating- and Weight-Related Problems (EAWRP):
Risk Factors Assessment
Responsible for the course:
Name: Mgr. Carlos A. Almenara, PhD
Address: (MU FSS) Joštova, 10 – Office 2.53, Brno.
E - mail: carlos.almenara@mail.muni.cz
1. PERSONAL GOALS:
My major goal as a teacher is to inspire my students to learn and think critically.
2. PURPOSE OF THE COURSE:
In most industrialized societies, big companies are obtaining profits from the
marketing formula which matches thin-and-toned women or lean-and-muscular
men with “success”. Probably as a consequence of the promotion of this “ideal
body”, there are a lot of people investing time, money, and effort to enhance their
physical appearance, and most of them are engaging in unhealthy behaviours.
On the other hand, the food industry is promoting the acquisition of unhealthy
eating habits, while non traditional habits and modern facilities are promoting a
sedentary life style. Also probably as a consequence, it has been a large increase of
obesity.
This social scenario has created an oxymoronic situation. First, the excessive
concern to attain a thin and muscular body is stigmatizing the obese and not
muscular population. While public health efforts have the aim to decrease the
obese population matching “fat” with “bad”, they are probably stigmatizing the
obese body and promoting a thin body, as well.
Psychologists need to correctly and critically identify this scenario. They also
need to know and evaluate the different problems which emerge in the general
population: body dissatisfaction, low body self-esteem, unhealthy and extreme
weight control behaviours, unhealthy and extreme muscular enhancement
techniques, misperception of body weight or body image, loss of control while
eating, excessive or absence of exercise, excessive concern with body appearance,
compulsive use of cosmetic procedures, etc.
Accordingly, this course has been created to give students a general but solid
background on eating- and weight-related problems (EAWRP). Furthermore, this
course deals with risk factors assessment, giving students the opportunity to know
about psychological measurement in the general population.
3. COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
The overall goal of this course is that students acquire the knowledge and skills
necessary for the assessment of eating- and weight-related problems (EAWRP) in the
general population.
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Identify the general concepts of EAWRP.
• Identify core concepts like body image, body dissatisfaction, eating
disorders, obesity, healthy eating, physical activity, etc.
2. Know the most important theories about EAWRP.
• Identify and critically evaluate the more important theories like the
cognitive-behavioral model, the sociocultural model, and the
objectification theory.
3. Know the different kinds of instruments to measure the different aspects of
EAWRP (cognitive, behavioral, social, and biological).
• Identify and differentiate screening instruments, self-reports, interviews,
real-time data capture, anthropological and biological measures.
4. Successfully select the most proper psychological instrument to measure a
specific EAWRP.
• Critically review the appropriateness of a test prior to its use and follow
the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing.
4. COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
• Classes are once every week. Classes are two academic hours long and
they are divided as follows: first hour (50 minutes) of lecture, being the
teacher the most active, presenting the content and readings; second
hour (50 minutes) of seminar, being the students the more active,
presenting and discussing the assignments.
• To access the final exam, it’s needed to attend at least 80% of the
seminars (i.e. 10 if 13 seminars in total).
• I encourage students to participate in classroom: asking questions,
answering, or making a comment or observation. For those who feel shy
speaking in public, I encourage them to participate. And those who feel
confident speaking in public, I encourage them to shape the classroom
atmosphere as warm and inviting as possible.
• Read the assigned papers before the seminar session, this is very
important. The assigned papers have been carefully selected to give you
a background of information for the topic covered in the session.
• I will monitor the participation during each seminar. Your opinion is
important.
5. EVALUATION:
Students are evaluated using a 5 points scale (A, B, C, D, E). To obtain the final score,
I use the following calculation:
• 40% mandatory assignments.
• 25% participates in class.
• 35% Final exam (Multichoice answer quiz with 20 questions)
6. TEXTBOOKS AND ARTICLES:
Ata, R. N., Rojas, A., Ludden, A. B., & Thompson, J. K. (2011). Factors influencing
body image during adolescence. In V. R. Preedy, R. R. Watson, & C. R. Martin
(Eds.), Handbook of behavior, food and nutrition (Vol. 5, pp. 3221–3239). New
York, NY: Springer.
Bauman, A. E., Reis, R. S., Sallis, J. F., Wells, J. C., Loos, R. J. F., & Martin, B. W.
(2012). Correlates of physical activity: Why are some people physically active and
others not? Lancet, 380(9838), 258–71. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60735-1
Cash, T. F. (2011). Cognitive-behavioral perspectives on body image. In T. F. Cash &
L. Smolak (Eds.), Body image: A handbook of science, practice, and prevention
(pp. 39–47). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Fitzsimmons-Craft, E. E. (2011). Social psychological theories of disordered eating in
college women: Review and integration. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(7), 1224–
37. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.07.011
Glover, T., & Sharma, S. (2012). Physiological assessment of eating disorders. In J. Fox
& K. Goss (Eds.), Eating and its disorders (pp. 42–60). Chichester, West Sussex:
John Wiley & Sons.
Hilbert, A., Rief, W., Tuschen-Caffier, B., De Zwaan, M., & Czaja, J. (2009). Loss of
control eating and psychological maintenance in children: An ecological
momentary assessment study. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47(1), 26–33.
doi:10.1016/j.brat.2008.10.003
Kashubeck-West, S., Saunders, K., & Huang, H. (2012). Measures of eating disorder
symptoms and body image disturbance. In K. L. Goodheart, J. R. Clopton, & J. J.
Robert-McComb (Eds.), Eating disorders in women and children: Prevention,
stress management, and treatment (2nd ed., pp. 75–98). Boca Raton, FL: CRC
Press.
Le Grange, D., Lock, J., Loeb, K., & Nicholls, D. (2010). Academy for Eating Disorders
position paper: The role of the family in eating disorders. The International
Journal of Eating Disorders, 43(1), 1–5. doi:10.1002/eat.20751
Neumark-Sztainer, D. R. (2007). Addressing the spectrum of adolescent weight-related
problems: Engaging parents and communities. The Prevention Researcher, 14(3),
11–14.
Smolak, L. (2009). Risk factors in the development of body image, eating problems,
and obesity. In L. Smolak & J. K. Thompson (Eds.), Body image, eating disorders,
and obesity in youth: Assessment, prevention, and treatment (2nd ed., pp. 135–
155). Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
Sánchez-Carracedo, D., Neumark-Sztainer, D. R., & López-Guimerà, G. (2012).
Integrated prevention of obesity and eating disorders: barriers, developments and
opportunities. Public Health Nutrition, 1–15. doi:10.1017/S1368980012000705
Túry, F., Güleç, H., & Kohls, E. (2010). Assessment methods for eating disorders and
body image disorders. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 69(6), 601–11.
doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.05.012
7. ONLINE RESOURCES:
Tests and Measures in the Social Sciences (Compiled by Helen Hough, Health Sciences
Librarian, University of Texas at Arlington). This database contains information on
about 12,000 measures available in 128 compilation volumes. There is a database
version in RefShare and is also available on this website:
http://libraries.uta.edu/helen/test&meas/testmainframe.htm
Educational Testing Service (ETS) - Test Collection. The ETS Test Collection is a
database of more than 25,000 tests and other measurement devices. Contains
information about tests from the early 1900s to the present, and is considered the
largest compilation of such materials in the world.
http://www.ets.org/test_link/about/
Mendeley – Eating and Weight Related Problems Group (EAWRP). This course will use
this database which contains more than 400 references covering different topics on
eating, body image and weight related problems in the general population. Students
can go to the following website and sign up:
http://mnd.ly/zdWz5t
Course Calendar (February to May: 13 weeks, 1 holiday: 1st
April):
Week Topics Readings (due on this date) Assignments (due on this date)
THEME ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1st
Course information and general
introduction: What are EAWRP?
2nd
Statistics about obesity, body
dissatisfaction, weight control, binge
eating, etc.
“Addressing the spectrum of adolescent
weight-related problems” (Neumark-Sztainer,
2007)
Individual presentations
3rd
Health and social concerns: unhealthy
eating, sedentary behavior, obesity and
stigmatization.
“Correlates of physical activity: Why are
some people physically active and others
not?” (Bauman et al., 2012)
Individual presentations
4th
I - How EAWRP develop? The CognitiveBehavioral
Model
“Cognitive-behavioral perspectives on body
image” (Cash, 2011)
Individual presentations
5th
II - How EAWRP develop? The
Sociocultural Model (Tripartite Influence
Model: parents, peers, and media)
“Factors influencing body image during
adolescence” (Ata, Rojas, Ludden, &
Thompson, 2011)
Individual presentations
6th
III - How EAWRP develop? The
Objectification Theory
"Social psychological theories of disordered
eating in college women: Review and
integration" (Fitzsimmons-Craft, 2011)
Individual presentations
Course Calendar (February to May: 13 weeks, 1 holiday: 1st
April) (CONTINUED)
Date Topics and activities Readings (due on this date) Assignments (due on this date)
THEME TWO: ASSESSMENT OF EAWRP
7th
Screening of EAWRP using self-report
measures and structured interviews:
SCOFF, EAT-26, EDI-3, EDE, BULIT-R,
EDDS.
First 4 pages of: “Assessment methods for
eating disorders and body image disorders”
(Túry, Güleç, & Kohls, 2010)
Group presentation of “Risk factors in the
development of body image, eating
problems, and obesity” (Smolak, 2009)
8th
Self-report measures of EAWRP:
Cognitions, attitudes, thoughts, feelings,
behaviors.
The rest of pages from: “Assessment
methods for eating disorders and body image
disorders” (Túry et al., 2010)
Individual presentations
9th
Medical assessment of EAWRP: General
considerations
“Physiological assessment of eating
disorders” (Glover & Sharma, 2012)
Group presentation of "Measures of eating
disorder symptoms and body image
disturbance" (Kashubeck-West, Saunders, &
Huang, 2012)
10th
Nutritional Assessment of EAWRP:
General considerations
“Loss of control eating and psychological
maintenance in children” (Hilbert, Rief,
Tuschen-Caffier, De Zwaan, & Czaja, 2009)
Individual presentations
11th
Family assessment of EAWRP: General
considerations
“AED position paper: The role of the family in
eating disorders” (Le Grange, Lock, Loeb, &
Nicholls, 2010)
Individual presentations
12th
Special topics in the assessment of
EAWRP: Body image disturbance, FatFree
Mass Index, and others.
Group presentation of "Integrated
prevention of obesity and eating disorders"
(Sánchez-Carracedo, Neumark-Sztainer, &
López-Guimerà, 2012)
13th EXAM