Abstract:
Self-acceptance is an important psychological condition, which enables individuals to appropriately evaluate their efficient and inefficient body features. Reports have shown that many secondary school students in Osun state with negative body image exhibit problems of self-acceptance which accounts for a variety of psychological challenges such as loneliness, depression, anxiety, self-criticism, feeling of worthlessness and suicidal ideation. Previous studies largely focused on factors influencing self-acceptance with little consideration for interventions such as mode deactivation and coherence therapies. This study, therefore, was carried out to determine the effects of Mode Deactivation Therapy (MDT) and Coherence Therapy (CT) on self-acceptance among in-school adolescents with negative body image in Osun State, Nigeria. The moderating effects of gender and social support were also examined.
The study was anchored to Self Discrepancy Theory, while the pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design with a 3x2x2 factorial matrix was adopted. The multi-stage sampling procedure was used. Three Local Government Areas (LGAs) one per senatorial district were randomly selected from the existing three senatorial districts in Osun state. Three secondary schools (one per LGA) were randomly chosen. Eighty four in-school adolescents who scored low on the Body Image-Acceptance screening tool were selected. The schools were randomly assigned to MDT (26), CT (30) and control (28) groups. The instruments used were Body Image-Acceptance Questionnaire (α =0.77), Unconditional Self-Acceptance (α =0.83), Social Support (α =0.84) scales and stimulus packages. The treatment lasted eight weeks. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Analysis of covariance and Scheffe post-hoc test at 0.05 level of significance.
Participants’ age was 13.50 ±2.50 years, and majority were females (53.57%). There was a significant main effect of treatment on self-acceptance (F(2; 83)= 33.09; partial η2 = 0.47). The participants in CT had the highest post mean score (96.66) on self-acceptance, followed by those in MDT (74.34) and control (44.92) groups. There was a significant main effect of social support on self-acceptance (F(1; 81) = 25.37; partial η2 = 0.26). The participants with high social support had a higher mean score (88.00), than those with low social support (55.47). There was no significant main effect of gender. There was significant interaction effects of treatment and social support on self-acceptance (F(2; 81) = 3.21; partial η2 = 0.08) in favour of the participants with high social support in CT. There was significant interaction effects of social support and gender on self-acceptance of the participants (F(2; 81) = 3.21; partial η2 = 0.08). There was no significant interaction effect of treatment and gender on self-acceptance. The three-way interaction effect was significant on self-acceptance (F(1; 81) = 5.24; partial η2 = 0.06).
Mode deactivation and coherence therapies improved self-acceptance among in-school adolescents with negative body image in Osun State, Nigeria. Counseling and developmental psychologists should adopt these therapies for improved self-acceptance particularly among adolescents with negative body image with particular emphasis on social support.
