Cited by 484Workplace Health and Well-beingObesity, Physical Activity, DietEating Disorders and Behaviors

Psychosocial stress and change in weight among US adults

Open access
Block, J. P., He, Y., Zaslavsky, A. M., Ding, L., Ayanian, J. Z.·2009·American Journal of Epidemiology

Abstract

The association of psychosocial stress with weight gain may have important implications for clinical practice and workplace and public health interventions. To determine whether multiple domains of psychosocial stress were associated with weight gain from 1995 to 2004, the authors analyzed a nationally representative longitudinal cohort of 1,355 men and women in the United States. Change in body mass index was assessed for multiple domains of psychosocial stress related to work, personal relationships, life constraints, and finances, controlling for other factors associated with weight gain. All analyses were stratified by sex and weighted to account for the complex survey design. Among men with high baseline body mass index, weight gain was associated with increasing levels of psychosocial stress related to job-related demands (P < 0.001 for interaction with baseline body mass index), lack of skill discretion (P = 0.014), lack of decision authority (P = 0.026), and difficulty paying bills (P = 0.004). Among women with high baseline body mass index, weight gain was associated with job-related demands (P < 0.001 for interaction with baseline body mass index), perceived constraints in life (P < 0.001), strain in relations with family (P = 0.016), and difficulty paying bills (P = 0.010). Interventions to address psychosocial stress may limit weight gain among overweight and obese men and women.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/aje/kwp104

Cites

67 of 67 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The relationship between stress and weight gain appears strongest among individuals who are overweight and those who binge eat.

    “this relationship appears to be strongest among individuals who are overweight and those who binge eat”

    From Role of addiction and stress neurobiology on food intake and obesity (2018) · cites this paper as Block et al., 2009

  • Stressful events such as job strain, unemployment, family caregiving, marital conflicts, and chronic adversity including poverty are associated with weight gain and obesity.

    “Stressful events such as job strain, unemployment, family caregiving, marital conflicts and chronic adversity including poverty are associated with weight gain and obesity”

    From Role of addiction and stress neurobiology on food intake and obesity (2018) · cites this paper as Block et al., 2009

  • The effects of stress may be different in lean compared to obese individuals.

    “The effects of stress may be different in lean as compared to obese individuals”

    From Role of addiction and stress neurobiology on food intake and obesity (2018) · cites this paper as Block et al., 2009

  • Compared with individuals with lower body mass indexes, those with higher body mass indexes demonstrate stronger associations between psychological stress and future weight gain.

    “Compared with individuals with lower BMIs, those with higher BMIs demonstrate stronger associations between psychological stress and future weight gain”

    From Role of addiction and stress neurobiology on food intake and obesity (2018) · cites this paper as Block et al., 2009

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Block, J. P., He, Y., Zaslavsky, A. M., Ding, L., & Ayanian, J. Z.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Venue
American Journal of Epidemiology
Published
2009-05-22
Volume
170
Issue
2
Pages
181-192
ISSN
  • 0002-9262 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-6256
OpenAlex
W2104883623
Cited by
484
References
67
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 45 · 2013: 35 · 2012: 23
FWCI
35.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • American Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Aging (P01AG020166)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
Keywords
psychosocial stress, weight gain, body mass index, obesity, overweight, decision-making power, financial stress, family relationships, sex differences, occupational stress, public health interventions
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sex Factors, Stress, Psychological, United States, Weight Gain, Body Mass Index, Overweight

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review