Understanding Self-directed Stigma: Development of the Weight Bias Internalization Scale (original) (raw)
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Internalization of Weight Bias: Implications for Binge Eating and Emotional Well-being*
Obesity, 2007
Objective: This study examined the relationship between internalization of negative weight-based stereotypes and indices of eating behaviors and emotional well-being in a sample of overweight and obese women. Research Method and Procedures: The sample was comprised of 1013 women who belonged to a national, nonprofit weight loss organization. Participants completed an on-line battery of self-report questionnaires measuring frequency of weight stigmatization and coping responses to deal with bias and symptoms of depression and self-esteem, attitudes about weight and obesity, and binge eating behaviors. In addition, participants were asked to list the most common weight-based stereotypes and whether they believed them to be true or false. Results: Participants who believed that weight-based stereotypes were true reported more frequent binge eating and refusal to diet in response to stigma experiences compared with those who reported stereotypes to be false. The degree to which participants believed stereotypes to be true or false was not related to types or amount of stigma experiences reported, self-esteem, depression, or attitudes toward obese persons. In addition, engaging in weight loss strategies as a response to bias was not predicted by stereotype beliefs or by actual stigma experiences, regardless of the amount or types of stigma reported. Discussion: These findings suggest that obese individuals who internalize negative weight-based stereotypes may be particularly vulnerable to the negative impact of stigma on eating behaviors and also challenge the notion that stigma may motivate obese individuals to engage in efforts to lose weight. This study highlights a new area of research that warrants attention to better understand weight stigma and its potential consequences for health.
Internalizing Weight Stigma: Prevalence and Sociodemographic Considerations in US Adults
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 2018
This study aimed to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the presence, severity, and sociodemographic correlates of weight bias internalization (WBI) across three distinct samples of US adults. Levels of WBI were compared in (1) a sample of adults with obesity and heightened risk of weight stigma (N = 456), (2) an online community sample (N = 519), and (3) a national online panel (N = 2,529). Samples 2 and 3 comprised adults with and without obesity. Participants completed identical self-report measures, including demographic variables and weight-related factors, to determine their relationship with low, mean, and high levels of WBI. At least 44% of adults across samples endorsed mean levels of WBI (as determined by sample 3). The highest levels of WBI were endorsed by approximately one in five adults in the general population samples and by 52% in the sample of adults with obesity. Individuals with the highest WBI were white, had less education and income, were currently trying to...
The influence of the stigma of obesity on overweight individuals
International Journal of Obesity, 2004
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the internalization of anti-fat bias among overweight individuals across a variety of attitudes and stereotypes. DESIGN: Two studies were conducted using the Implicit Association Test (IAT), a performance-based measure of bias, to examine beliefs among overweight individuals about 'fat people' vs 'thin people'. Study two also contained explicit measures of attitudes about obese people. SUBJECTS: Study 1 participants were 68 overweight patients at a treatment research clinic (60 women, 8 men; mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of 37.173.9 kg/m 2). Study 2 involved 48 overweight participants (33 women, 15 men) with a BMI of 34.574.0 kg/ m 2. RESULTS: Participants exhibited significant anti-fat bias on the IAT across several attributes and stereotypes. They also endorsed the explicit belief that fat people are lazier than thin people. CONCLUSION: Unlike other minority group members, overweight individuals do not appear to hold more favorable attitudes toward ingroup members. This ingroup devaluation has implications for changing the stigma of obesity and for understanding the psychosocial and even medical impact of obesity on those affected.
Appetite, 2016
Weight self-stigma is conceptualized as a multidimensional concept involving experiences of shame, self-devaluation and the perception of being discriminated against in social situations due to one's weight. It has been associated with experiential avoidance, unhealthy eating behaviors, binge eating and diminish quality-of-life (QoL). The current study aims to explore the mediation effect of weight-related experiential avoidance on the relationship between weight self-stigma and obesity-related QoL in women with and without binge eating (BE). The sample comprised 282 women with overweight or obesity, from which 100 presented BE symptoms. Sample's mean age was 44.24 years (SD = 11.30), with a mean BMI of 31.40 kg/m(2) (SD = 4.53). Participants completed a set of self-reported measures regarding BE symptoms, weight self-stigma, weight-related experiential avoidance and QoL. Results from path analysis supported the mediation of weight-related experiential avoidance on the relat...
The internalization of weight bias is associated with severe eating pathology among lean individuals
Objective: The internalization of weight bias is associated with clinically significant eating pathology among overweight adults. However, these relationships have not yet been assessed in lean individuals, who may perceive themselves to be overweight and subsequently internalize weight bias. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to determine whether lean individuals internalize weight bias and if the internalization of weight bias among lean respondents is associated with eating pathology. Method: Participants were 197 lean (mean BMI: 22.28 ± 1.89, range 15.80-24.98) adults who completed the Weight Bias Internalization Scale (WBIS) and measures of disordered eating behaviors and attitudes via an anonymous online survey. Results: Based on convergence of responses from the EDE-Q and QEWP-R, and using DSM-5 behavioral criteria, 10% and 15% of participants were classified into a binge eating and binge/purge group, respectively. WBIS scores were significantly higher among those with binge and/or purge behaviors compared to those without eating pathology. Bivariate correlations revealed positive associations between WBIS score and BMI, depression, and all EDE-Q subscales (restraint, eating concern, shape concern, weight concern). Logistic regressions indicated that internalized weight bias was significantly associated with binge/purge behaviors (OR = 4.67, 95% CI: 2.38-9.17, p b .001) and binge eating (OR = 2.29, 95% CI: 1.26-4.19, p b .01).
Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2013
Current measures of internalized weight bias assess factors such as responsibility for weight status, mistreatment because of weight, etc. A potential complementary approach for assessing internalized weight bias is to examine the correspondence between individuals' ratings of obese people, normal weight people, and themselves on personality traits. This investigation examined the relationships among different measures of internalized weight bias, as well as the association between those measures and psychosocial maladjustment. Prior to the beginning of a weight loss intervention, 62 overweight/ obese adults completed measures of explicit and internalized weight bias as well as body image, binge eating, and depression. Discrepancies between participants' ratings of obese people in general and ratings of themselves on both positive and negative traits predicted unique variance in measures of maladjustment above a traditional assessment of internalized weight bias. This novel approach to measuring internalized weight bias provides information above and beyond traditional measures of internalized weight bias and begins to provide insights into social comparison processes involved in weight bias.
Weight Bias Internalization, Core Self-Evaluation, and Health in Overweight and Obese Persons
Objective: Weight bias has strong associations with psychopathology in overweight and obese individuals. However, self-evaluative processes, as conceptualized in the process model of self-stigma, and implications for other health-related outcomes, remain to be clarified. Design and Methods: In a representative general population sample of N 5 1158 overweight and obese individuals, the impact of core self-evaluation as a mediator between weight bias internalization and mental and global health outcomes as well as between weight bias internalization and health care utilization, was examined using structural equation modeling. Results: In overweight and obese individuals, greater weight bias internalization predicted lower core self-evaluation, which in turn predicted greater depression and anxiety, lower global health, and greater health care utilization. These mediational associations were largely stable in subsample analyses and after controlling for sociodemographic variables. Conclusions: The results show that overweight and obese individuals with internalized weight bias are at risk for impaired health, especially if they experience low core self-evaluation, making them a group with which to target for interventions to reduce self-stigma. Weight bias internalization did not represent a barrier to health care utilization, but predicted greater health care utilization in association with greater health impairments.
Confronting and Coping with Weight Stigma: An Investigation of Overweight and Obese Adults*
Obesity, 2006
Objective: This study examined experiences of weight stigmatization, sources of stigma, coping strategies, psychological functioning, and eating behaviors in a sample of 2671 overweight and obese adults. Research Methods and Procedures: The total sample was partitioned into two subsamples for investigation. Sample I was comprised of 2449 adult women, and Sample II was a matched sample of adult men and women (N ϭ 222) that was disaggregated to investigate gender differences. Both samples completed an online battery of self-report questionnaires measuring frequency of weight stigmatization and coping responses to deal with bias, the most common sources of the bias, symptoms of depression, self-esteem, attitudes about weight and obesity, and binge eating behaviors. Results: Experiences of weight stigmatization, in many forms and across multiple occasions, was common in both samples. A variety of coping strategies were used in response. More frequent exposure to stigma was related to more attempts to cope and higher BMI. Physicians and family members were the most frequent sources of weight bias reported. No gender differences were observed in types or frequency of stigmatization. Frequency of stigmatization was not related to current psychological functioning, although coping responses were associated with emotional well-being. Discussion: These findings raise questions about the relationship between stigma and psychological functioning and have important implications for obesity treatment and stigma reduction intervention efforts, both of which are discussed.
The European Research Journal
Objectives: Obese people are often stigmatized and discriminated against as unmotivated, incompatible, sloppy, undisciplined, and lazy because of their excess weight. The stigma associated with weight has serious adverse effects on mental health, social functioning, and physical health. It has been suggested that weight stigma can be internalized and lead to the development and maintenance of self-stigma. Methods: Personal Information Form, Turkish Emotional Eating Scale (EES), Weight Self-Stigma Scale (WSSQ), and Diet Satisfaction Scale (DSS) were used. Results: One hundred forty-five volunteer obese individuals who applied to the Diet Clinic and whose informed consent was obtained were included in the study. When the differences between the scale scores of the individuals according to demographic, health, and nutrition findings are examined, it is seen that the TEES scores according to the gender and income status of the obese individuals, the WSSQ scores according to the gender a...