Targeting body size misperception and attentional bias to reduce body dissatisfaction in young people

Body dissatisfaction is common in young Australians and is strongly associated with mental health impairment. Our team has demonstrated that exposure, and attention, to extreme body types induces body size misperception in the laboratory. The current project will examine real-world applications of this research. Specifically, we will use gold-standard psychophysical, and cutting-edge Virtual Reality techniques to determine whether the mental health of young people with high body size misperception can be improved by training them to 1) fixate on more representative bodies; 2) perceive body size more accurately. This will provide the groundwork for a formal clinical trial and funding proposals to bodies including the NHMRC.