OBJECTIVE Appearance concerns are a core feature of multiple psychiatric disorders (i.e., body dysmorphic disorder, eating disorders, and social anxiety disorders). Individuals with these concerns commonly engage in appearance-related safety behaviors (ARSB), behaviors intended to avoid, prevent, or manage the negative evaluation of one's physical appearance. The present study evaluated a brief ARSB reduction intervention for appearance concerns. METHOD Women with elevated appearance concerns (N = 203) were recruited from across the United States and randomized to receive one of two 1-month smartphone-based interventions targeting ARSBs or unhealthy behaviors (UHBs). Both consisted of daily text messages with links to behavior checklists and reminders to avoid the respective behaviors. RESULTS Participants in both treatments saw substantial reductions in symptoms. Though the UHB fading condition showed significantly better treatment adherence than ARSB fading, ARSB fading led to significantly lower appearance concerns (sr² = .028, p = .014) and eating disorder symptoms (sr² = .024, p = .020) at posttreatment, and lower appearance concerns (sr² = .041, p = .004), eating disorder symptoms (sr² = .029, p = .006), social anxiety (sr² = .048, p = .005), and appearance importance at 1-month follow-up (sr² = .042, p = .011), relative to UHB fading. Changes in ARSBs were found to partially mediate the effect of treatment on appearance concerns. CONCLUSIONS These preliminary findings provide novel evidence for the efficacy of targeting ARSBs and suggest that this text-based intervention may be an efficacious and accessible intervention for women with elevated appearance concerns. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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减少外观问题的安全行为：一项基于智能手机的干预的随机对照试验。


目的 外貌问题是多种精神疾病 （即躯体变形障碍、进食障碍和社交焦虑障碍） 的核心特征。有这些担忧的人通常会参与与外表相关的安全行为 （ARSB），这些行为旨在避免、预防或管理对一个人外表的负面评价。本研究评估了针对外观问题的简短 ARSB 减少干预。方法 从美国各地招募了外表问题较高的女性 （N = 203），并随机接受两项为期 1 个月的基于智能手机的干预措施之一，这些干预措施针对 ARSB 或不健康行为 （UHB）。两者都包括每日短信，其中包含指向行为清单和提醒的链接，以避免各自的行为。结果 两种治疗的参与者都看到了症状的显着减轻。尽管 UHB 褪色条件显示出明显优于 ARSB 褪色的治疗依从性，但 ARSB 褪色导致治疗后的外观问题 （sr² = .028， p = .014） 和进食障碍症状 （sr² = .024， p = .020） 显著降低，外观问题降低 （sr² = .041， p = .004），进食障碍症状 （sr² = .029， p = .006）， 社交焦虑 （sr² = .048， p = .005）， 和 1 个月随访时的外观重要性 （sr² = .042，p = .011），相对于 UHB 褪色。发现 ARSBs 的变化部分介导了治疗对外观问题的影响。结论 这些初步研究结果为靶向 ARSBs 的有效性提供了新的证据，并表明这种基于文本的干预对于外表问题较高的女性可能是一种有效且可及的干预措施。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 （c） 2024 APA，保留所有权利）。