223419 Effect of compassion meditation and amount of exercise on body image in a pretest-posttest study of college freshmen women and men

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 : 11:30 AM - 11:45 AM

Daniel D. Adame, PhD, MSPH CHES , Department of Health and Physical Education, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Steven P. Cole, PhD , Research Design Associates, Yorktown Heights, NY
Charles Raison, MD , Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Lobsang Negi, PhD , Department of Religion, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Sally A. Radell, MFA , Department of Health, Physical Education and Dance, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Thomas C. Johnson, EdD , Department of Health, Physical Education and Dance, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
To assess the effect of meditation and amount of exercise on body image, 61 freshmen college students were randomized to six weeks of training in compassion meditation or to an active control condition consisting of a health discussion group. During the 1st (pretest) and 14th weeks (posttest) semesters of a personal health course, 32 women and 29 men completed the Adame, Cole, Johnson, and Matthiasson Amount of Exercise Scale, Stanford Usual Activity Questionnaire, and the Cash Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire. High practice time and low practice time meditators (defined by median split) were compared to each other and to controls. The sample was divided into two exercise groups: 1) amount of exercise decreased over the course of the semester; 2) exercise increased or remained the same. Repeated measures analyses of variance revealed that high practice meditators who increased or had no change in amount of exercise felt more positive about their appearance (p = .001) and demonstrated increased satisfaction with most areas of their body. High practice meditators who decreased exercise levels were less satisfied with their appearance. High practice meditators increased their investment in a physically healthy lifestyle while low practice meditators and controls became more apathetic about their health (p = .01). Overall, students who increased or maintained their amount of exercise increased their investment in being physically fit or athletically competent (p = .03). These findings suggest that compassion meditation and amount of exercise may interact to affect body image in college students.

Learning Areas:
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of this presentation, attendees will be able to: (1) Identify the intruments used in the study; (2) Describe the experimental design employed; (3) Discuss any independent effects of compassion meditation and/or exercise on body image; and (4) Discuss the findings that suggest that compassion meditation and amount of exercise may interact to affect body image in college students.

Keywords: Exercise, Adolescent Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I am a college professor and health educator who has conducted investigations and published in the field of research on the relations of exercise, fitness, body image and compassion meditation in college populations.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.