Internalized weight stigma and the progression of food addiction over time
Open accessAbstract
Food addiction is associated with elevated levels of eating pathology, body image concerns, and internalized weight stigma. The role of internalized weight stigma in the progression of addictive-like eating has not been explored. This longitudinal study explored the relative contributions of weight-related self-devaluation and fear of being stigmatized by others in predicting changes in addictive-like eating behavior over time. 305 young adults (M age = 18.7 years, SD = 1.1, range 18-28, M BMI = 21.9 kg/m 2, SD =3.7 kg/m 2, range 13.7-38.9 kg/m 2) completed online measures of "food addiction," weight-related self-devaluation, and fear of stigma from others at two time points (follow-up M = 280 days, SD = 30, range 155-474). At baseline, 7.9 % exhibited clinically relevant addictive-like eating behavior, 40.3 % self-classified as being "addicted to food", and 51.8 % neither. Using cross-lagged modelling, fear of being stigmatized, but not self-devaluation, was a predictor of worsening "food addiction" status over time. Fear of weight stigma, rather than weight-related self-devaluation per se, may be an important predictor of problematic eating behavior. As weight stigma is prevalent in Western populations, these findings have potential implications for the development of problem eating behaviors in non-clinical samples.
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Fear of being stigmatized predicts worsening food addiction status over time.
“Importantly, fear of being stigmatized predicts worsening FA status over time [67].”
From Separating the Signal from the Noise: How Psychiatric Diagnoses Can Help Discern Food Addiction from Dietary Restraint (2020) · cites this paper as [67]
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References 27 · Cited by 22
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Schvey, N. A., Sbrocco, T., Bakalar, J. L., Ress, R., Barmine, M., Gorlick, J., … Tanofsky-Kraff, M. (2016). The experience of weight stigma among gym members with overweight and obesity. Stigma and Health, 2(4), 292-306. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000062 · DOI · Paper page
- Authors
- Meadows, A., & Higgs, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Birmingham (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Meadows, Angela
- Venue
- Body Image
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-09
- Volume
- 34
- Pages
- 67-71
- ISSN
- 1740-1445 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3033008683
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 1.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Body Image (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Economic and Social Research Council
- University of Exeter
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Keywords
- internalized weight stigma, food addiction, fear of stigma, eating pathology, young adults, problematic eating behaviors, weight stigma
- MeSH terms
- Food Addiction, Adolescent, Adult, Body Image, Body Weight, Defense Mechanisms, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Self Concept, Young Adult, Social Stigma
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