Abstract: Reducing Appearance Anxiety and Improving Holistic Well-Being for Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: An Integrative Intervention (Society for Social Work and Research 26th Annual Conference - Social Work Science for Racial, Social, and Political Justice)

454P Reducing Appearance Anxiety and Improving Holistic Well-Being for Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: An Integrative Intervention

Schedule:
Saturday, January 15, 2022
Marquis BR Salon 6, ML 2 (Marriott Marquis Washington, DC)
* noted as presenting author
Margaret X.C. Yin, PhD, Miss, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Celia H.Y. Chan, PhD, Associate Professor, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Cecilia L.W. Chan, PhD, Professor, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Yat Lui Fung, PhD, Lecturer, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Background and Purpose:Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may suffer from hirsutism, acne, obese and dull skin, thus they are easy to become anxious towards appearance, and have low levels of well-being. Yet few studies have focused on the intervention to reduce their appearance anxiety and improve their well-being in the Chinese context. This study was conducted to determine the effects of an Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit (I-BMS) intervention model on appearance anxiety and holistic well-being in women with PCOS in China.

Methods:This study was conducted from November 2019 to August 2020, enrolled 26 women aged between 21 and 33 years old from the HKU-Shenzhen hospital in Shenzhen, China. Besides of a two-hour health lecture, all participants received 6 weekly I-BMS sessions around 3 hours each. Each group contained 8-10 participants. Themes of the six I-BMS sessions were: recognize illness uncertainty, identify objectified experiences, find one’s own beauty, self-acceptance and self-care, transformation through loss, and build resilience. Questionnaires were distributed to all participants before the intervention [T0], immediately after the intervention [T1] and at two-month follow-up [T2]. Appearance Anxiety Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale and Body-Mind-Spirit Holistic Well-being Scale were used to measure participants’ appearance anxiety, self-efficacy and holistic well-being, respectively.

Results:21 participants completed all the three times of measurement. Results of the intention-to-treat analysis (n=26) revealed a significant decrease in participants’ appearance anxiety (d=-0.58, p<0.01) and a significant increase in their self-efficacy (d=0.32, p<0.05) and holistic well-being (d=0.71, p<0.001) at post-intervention (T1). The effect continued at T2, meaning that participants’ appearance anxiety reduced significantly (F=4.86, p<0.05, η2=0.29), and their self-efficacy (F=3.75, p<0.05, η2=0.24) and holistic well-being (F=7.80, p<0.01, η2=0.39) improved significantly over time.

Conclusions and Implications:The results showed that I-BMS model was efficacious to reduce appearance anxiety and improve holistic well-being for women with PCOS in China. This study provided an effective model for social workers and group counselors to care for women with PCOS.