Body image promotion program with a creative movement approach for female college students in Taiwan

Abstract

Body image is considered to be positively correlated with self-esteem and self-efficacy. “Beauty in the midst of moving: My healthy body image” program based upon a creative dance/movement therapy approach was proposed to improve body dissatisfaction in female college students. A quasi-experiment design with three groups: the experiment group of 16 female college students, the comparison group (mat Pilates course) of 17 female college students, and the control group of 24 female college students. These three groups were examined at three different time-points: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and three-month follow-up. The experimental group was designed with eight 90 min sessions, once a week for eight weeks. The results showed that after the program, the scores of body-image, mindfulness, and self-esteem were improved in the experimental group compared to the comparison and control groups, and the scores of body image and mindfulness were maintained in the three month follow-up.