Mary Pritchard, professor of psychological science, presented two papers at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association meeting April 4-6 in Denver.
The first presentation was titled “What Factors are Most Influential in the Treatment of Eating Disorders?” and described a recent study conducted by Pritchard, local therapist and Boise State alumna Caley Featherstone, and Boise State graduate student Alyee Willets.
The trio surveyed former eating disorder patients and found common themes emerge during their recovery, including: therapeutic relationships, support systems, religion/faith, systematic/lifestyle changes, therapeutic interventions, and consciously making a choice to focus on something more important.
The second presentation was titled “Gender Differences in Reasons for Body Dissatisfaction” and described the findings of a recent study conducted with Boise State alumna Hristina Marinova. The pair found that women tend to feel dissatisfied with their bodies from social comparison about five times more than men.