2024 Frances Ford Fowler Memorial Award

Frances Fowler Wallace, the award’s namesake, was married to John Forsythe Wallace, a member of the Texas House of Representatives and the State Board of Control during the 1920s and 30s. Ms. Wallace died in Austin on July 18, 1972, at the age of 80. As directed in her will, the memorial award provides partial support for doctoral students’ dissertation research on “the cause, treatment, cure, and prevention of mental disease, mental illness, and mental disorders.”  The award provides up to $3,000 for research-related expenses.

We spoke with Olivia about her research:  

Tell us about yourself. At what point did you decide to pursue a career in mental health research, and what influenced that decision?

I am a current fifth-year clinical psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Houston. My decision to pursue a career in mental health research was incremental. However, I was influenced by my goals of decreasing the stigma surrounding mental illness and increasing equity in mental health care. Throughout my academic career, I realized the importance of quality research in both prevention and intervention efforts. I earned a BA in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, where I first discovered and developed an appreciation for psychological research. After my undergraduate studies, I obtained a MS in Human Development and Family Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where I conducted my first independent project and wrote a thesis. I very much enjoyed conducting research and at that point, I decided I wanted to work towards advancing psychological science that contributed to culturally relevant mental health services. 

Your dissertation is titled, “Internalization of body ideals and suicide capability: The mediating effects of body disregard and eating pathology among Latinas.” What questions are you trying to answer with this work?

My specific research questions are as follows: (1) Are the internalization of body ideals related to acquired capability for suicide? (2) Are they related through a specific pathway that includes body disregard* and eating pathology symptoms? I predict that (1) internalization of unrealistic body ideals, as represented by a) thin waist, b) large breast size, and c) curvy/thick ideals, will be positively related to acquired capability for suicide and (2) these associations will be serially, statistically mediated by body disregard and disordered eating symptoms. In other words, I predict that the internalization of body ideals is associated with body disregard, which in turn is associated with eating disorder symptoms, which in turn is associated with an acquired capability for suicide.   

*Body disregard is defined as a multifaceted construct that embodies an individual’s relationship with, attitude toward, and experience of the body; and includes body esteem, body dissatisfaction, body competence, interoceptive awareness, alexithymia, and body integrity. 

What led to your taking a professional interest in this particular topic?

I was primarily interested in this topic because Latinas experience decreased access to mental health care, despite high suicide attempt rates. Fredrickson and Roberts’ Objectification Theory was a big influence regarding the risk factors I investigated. They posit that women exist in a culture in which their bodies are looked at, evaluated, and always at risk for objectification. As such, mental health risks accumulate simply from existing in such a culture. However, the majority of research, including body image, eating pathology, and suicide research, has focused on the thin ideal and white, middle-class women. I think it’s important to include diverse individuals in this narrative, as well as culturally-relevant body ideals. It was previously thought that Latinas endorse a larger body ideal and thus, they would be protected from body image and related mental health concerns. However, research suggests that they are still negatively impacted by the internalization of unattainable (and possibly competing) body ideals. Therefore, I aim to examine the effects of the internalization of these body ideals in order to enhance culturally-relevant prevention and intervention efforts. 

How do you think your research methods and approach will help you to answer the questions that you’re posing? 

I am using a research model that integrates psychological and cultural phenomena. Specifically, my approach includes examining complex sets of multidimensional (e.g., clinical and contextual) risk factors, and investigating suicide vulnerability in the context of unique cultural pressures (e.g., the internalization of thin waist, large breast size, and curvy/thick ideals). My study consists of an online survey in which participants provide self-reported assessments of self-objectification, body disregard, eating pathology symptoms, and suicide capability. After concluding data collection, I plan to analyze the mediating effects of body disregard and eating pathology symptoms on the association between internalization of body ideals and acquired suicide capability. The goal of my dissertation project is to provide proof of concept, and my research method will help me provide empirical evidence for or against the proposed models. I hope that future studies will expand upon this research, using alternate methodologies such as longitudinal designs, investigating moderating effects, etc.   

Are there any suggested readings you can recommend for those who might be interested in learning more about this topic?  

 Yes, I’m happy people are interested in learning more about this important topic! 

Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. A. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of women quarterly, 21(2), 173-206. 

Hernández, J. C., Gomez, F., Stadheim, J., Perez, M., Bekele, B., Yu, K., & Henning, T. (2021). Hourglass body shape ideal scale and disordered eating. Body Image, 38, 85-94. 

Velez, B. L., Campos, I. D., & Moradi, B. (2015). Relations of sexual objectification and racist discrimination with Latina women’s body image and mental health. The Counseling Psychologist, 43(6), 906-935. 

Smith, A. R., Forrest, L. N., Duffy, M. E., Jones, P. J., Joiner, T. E., & Pisetsky, E. M. (2020). Identifying bridge pathways between eating disorder symptoms and suicidal ideation across three samples. Journal of abnormal psychology, 129(7), 724.