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DISCUSSION
This report contains the first wave of analysis of the data from the research programme. Due to
the size of the data set (in excess of 300,000 data points) for Study 1, and the number of followon
studies, the analysis is necessarily a ‘work in progress’. The next phase of analysis will
continue over the next six months, and will be included in later publications. In the discussion
which follows, the commentary is organised in relation to the model of adjustment presented in
Figure 10 below. This model illustrates the further developments made to the frameworks
presented in the introduction (Figures 1 & 3) in the light of the results and analyses outlined in
the previous section.
Demographics Visibility Dispositional
Style
Age
Gender
Family status
Group (clinic/
community)
Visible
v
Non Visible
Optimism /
Pessimism
Figure 10: Further Development of Model of Adjustment
Sociocognitive
factors
Satisfaction
with social
support
Fear of
Negative
Evaluation
Social
Acceptance
Appearance
cognitions
Social
comparison
Salience
Valence
Appearance
discrepancy
Subjective
visibility (self
report
disguise,
noticeability)
Outcomes
Social Anxiety
& Avoidance
Depression
Anxiety
Aggression
Mood
One of the most notable achievements of this first study in the research programme has been to
achieve and exceed our target recruitment figure of 1000, delivering a substantial body of data
relating to adjustment to appearance concerns from a sample of 1265 participants. To our
knowledge, this is the largest scale study in the field to date. A particularly noteworthy addition
to previous understanding is the data derived from the community sample. Levels of distress in
this population are considerable, and comparable to participants recruited from hospital settings.
The homogeneity of the two data sets resulted in the majority of these initial analyses being
performed on the complete data set, in contrast to our assumption before embarking on this
research, that we would be comparing and contrasting the data from the community and
hospital based samples on a routine basis. Clearly previous research, which has focused on the
problems and difficulties of those actively seeking treatment has revealed only the tip of the
iceberg of appearance-related distress amongst those with disfiguring conditions.
Mean levels of depression were low in the sample, echoing previous research (Moss, Harris &
Carr, 2004; Newell, 2000b; Rumsey & Harcourt, 2005; Rumsey et al, 2004). The mean level for
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