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Yoga As an Intervention Among College Students University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects January 2018 Yoga As An Intervention Among College Students: Measuring Changes In Body Dissatisfaction, Disordered Eating, Self-Compassion, Mindfulness, And Experiential Avoidance Rachel A. Kramer Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Recommended Citation Kramer, Rachel A., "Yoga As An Intervention Among College Students: Measuring Changes In Body Dissatisfaction, Disordered Eating, Self-Compassion, Mindfulness, And Experiential Avoidance" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 2257. https://commons.und.edu/theses/2257 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. YOGA AS AN INTERVENTION AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS: MEASURING CHANGES IN BODY DISSATISFACTION, DISORDERED EATING, SELF-COMPASSION, MINDFULNESS, AND EXPERIENTIAL AVOIDANCE By Rachel A Kramer Bachelor of Arts, Montclair State University, 2011 Master of Arts, American University, 2014 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Grand Forks, North Dakota August 2018 Copyright 2018 Rachel Kramer or c 2018 Rachel Kramer ii This dissertation, submitted by Rachel A. Kramer in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy fromthe University of North Dakota, has been read by the Faculty Advisory Committee under whom the work has been done and is hereby approved. This dissertation is being submitted by the appointed advisory committee as having met all of the requirements of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of North Dakota and hereby approved. Grant McGimpsey Dean of the School of 'l-1 Z,t> l &' A ...,_· __Q 1 Date -:p, iii PERMISSION Title Yoga as an Intervention Among College Students: Measuring Changes in Body Dissatisfaction, Disordered Eating, Self-Compassion, and Experiential Avoidance Department Psychology Degree Doctor of Philosophy In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University of North Dakota, I agree that the library of this University shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my dissertation work or, in his absence, by the Chairperson of the department or the dean of the School of Graduate Studies. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this dissertation or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my dissertation. Rachel A. Kramer April 23, 2018 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ x ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... xi I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 Body Dissatisfaction ............................................................................................................... 3 Eating Disorders ...................................................................................................................... 7 Associated Features of Eating Disorders .............................................................................. 10 Prevention Methods for Body Image Disturbance and Eating Disorders ............................. 10 Eating Disorders Treatment .................................................................................................. 13 Ameliorating Treatment and Development of Alternative Treatments ................................ 17 Mindfulness........................................................................................................................... 18 Self-Compassion ................................................................................................................... 20 Experiential Avoidance ......................................................................................................... 23 Yoga ...................................................................................................................................... 34 Yoga, Body Dissatisfaction, and Eating Disorders ............................................................... 34 The Current Dissertation ....................................................................................................... 39 II. STUDY ONE INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 54 Hypotheses ............................................................................................................................ 60 v III. STUDY ONE METHOD .................................................................................................... 63 Participants ........................................................................................................................ 63 Procedure .......................................................................................................................... 63 Measures ........................................................................................................................... 65 Statistical Analyses ........................................................................................................... 72 IV. STUDY ONE RESULTS ................................................................................................... 75 V. STUDY ONE DISCUSSION .............................................................................................. 92 VI. STUDY TWO INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 101 Study Two Hypotheses ....................................................................................................... 101 VII. STUDY TWO METHOD ............................................................................................... 107 Participants ...................................................................................................................... 107 Procedure ........................................................................................................................ 108 Measures ......................................................................................................................... 111 Statistical Analyses ......................................................................................................... 115 VIII. STUDY TWO RESULTS .............................................................................................. 116 IX. STUDY TWO DISCUSSION .......................................................................................... 130 X. DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................... 136 Limitations ...................................................................................................................... 148 Future Directions ............................................................................................................ 151 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 152 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................ 154 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 161 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Hypothesized Mediation Model: Overweight Preoccupation, Self-Compassion, and Disordered Eating ………………………………………………………………... 88 2. Hypothesized Mediation Model: Experiential Avoidance, Self-Compassion, and Disordered Eating ………………………………………………………………... 89 3. Hypothesized Mediation Model: Experiential Avoidance, Self-Compassion, and Appearance Evaluation …………………………………………………………... 89 4. Hypothesized Mediation Model: Experiential Avoidance, Self-Compassion, and Overweight Preoccupation ………………………………………………...…….. 90 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Demographic Details for Study One ………………….……………………………… 64 2. Study One: Self-Reported Eating Disorder History….…….…………………….…… 65 3. Study One: Yoga Experience ………………………………………………………… 65 4. Study One: Means and Standard Deviations for Independent and Dependent Variables ……………………………………………………………………………… 75 5. a. Correlations Among Variables for Study One ……………………………….. 77 b. Correlations Among Variables for Study One Continued ……………………. 78 6. BMI, Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, Appearance Evaluation, Appearance
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