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Associations of weight stigma with cortisol and oxidative stress independent of adiposity.

ABSTRACT: Weight discrimination is associated with increased risk of obesity. The mechanism of this relationship is unknown, but being overweight is a highly stigmatized condition and may be a source of chronic stress that contributes to the development and pathophysiology of obesity. The objective of this study was to test whether weight stigma is associated with physiological risk factors linked to stress and obesity, including hypercortisolism and oxidative stress, independent of adiposity.We examined the frequency of experiencing situations involving weight stigma and consciousness of weight stigma in relation to hypothalamic--pituitary--adrenal axis activity and oxidative stress (F?-isoprostanes) in 45 healthy overweight to obese women.Independent of abdominal fat, weight stigma was significantly related to measures of cortisol (including salivary measures of cortisol awakening response and serum morning levels) as well as higher levels of oxidative stress. Perceived stress mediated the relationship between weight stigma consciousness and the cortisol awakening response.These preliminary findings show that weight stigma is associated with greater biochemical stress, independent of level of adiposity. It is possible that weight stigma may contribute to poor health underlying some forms of obesity.

SUBMITTER: Tomiyama AJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4677673 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Associations of weight stigma with cortisol and oxidative stress independent of adiposity.

Tomiyama A Janet AJ Epel Elissa S ES McClatchey Trissa M TM Poelke Gina G Kemeny Margaret E ME McCoy Shannon K SK Daubenmier Jennifer J

Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association 20140801 8

<h4>Objective</h4>Weight discrimination is associated with increased risk of obesity. The mechanism of this relationship is unknown, but being overweight is a highly stigmatized condition and may be a source of chronic stress that contributes to the development and pathophysiology of obesity. The objective of this study was to test whether weight stigma is associated with physiological risk factors linked to stress and obesity, including hypercortisolism and oxidative stress, independent of adip ...[more]

PMID: 25068456

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Project description:Background:The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among weight stigma, eating behaviors, and stress, as well as to analyze the effect of stress in mediating the association between weight stigma and eating behaviors. Methods:The study involved 1818 adolescents between 14 to 19?years of age and was conducted in Wuhan, China in 2019. Weight stigma, eating behaviors (cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating), and stress were assessed by self-report questionnaires. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to examine the predictors of cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating; the serial mediation models analyses were conducted to analyze the effect of stress in mediating the association between weight stigma and eating behaviors for the whole non-overweight (normal and underweight) and overweight or obese participants, respectively. Results:Hierarchical linear regression analyses showed that experiences of weight stigma significantly predicted uncontrolled eating and emotional eating regardless of body mass index (BMI) (non-overweight adolescents: uncontrolled eating: ? [SE]?=?0.161 [0.017]; emotional eating: ? [SE]?=?0.199 [0.008], p?<?0.05; overweight or obese adolescents: uncontrolled eating: ? [SE]?=?0.286 [0.030]; emotional eating: ? [SE]?=?0.267 [0.014], p?<?0.05); experiences of weight stigma significantly predicted cognitive restraint among non-overweight adolescents (? [SE]?=?0.204 [0.013], p?<?0.05). Mediation analyses showed that stress mediated the associations between weight stigma and uncontrolled eating and emotional eating among non-overweight adolescents (uncontrolled eating: indirect effect coefficient?=?0.0352, 95% CI?=?0.0241, 0.0478; emotional eating: indirect effect coefficient?=?0.0133, 95% CI?=?0.0085, 0.0186). Conclusions:These findings suggest that non-overweight individuals can still experience weight stigma and its associated negative consequences; the relationship between weight stigma and eating behaviors is modulated by weight status; stress mediated the associations between weight stigma and uncontrolled and emotional eating among non-overweight adolescents.

Project description:BackgroundInternalized weight stigma has gained growing interest due to its association with multiple health impairments in individuals with obesity. Especially high internalized weight stigma is reported by individuals undergoing bariatric surgery. For assessing this concept, two different self-report questionnaires are available, but have never been compared: the Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire (WSSQ) and the Weight Bias Internalization Scale (WBIS). The purpose of the present study was to provide and to compare reliability, convergent validity with and predictive values for psychosocial health outcomes for the WSSQ and WBIS.MethodsThe WSSQ and the WBIS were used to assess internalized weight stigma in N = 78 prebariatric surgery patients. Further, body mass index (BMI) was assessed and body image, quality of life, self-esteem, depression, and anxiety were measured by well-established self-report questionnaires. Reliability, correlation, and regression analyses were conducted.ResultsInternal consistency of the WSSQ was acceptable, while good internal consistency was found for the WBIS. Both measures were significantly correlated with each other and body image. While only the WSSQ was correlated with overweight preoccupation, only the WBIS was correlated with appearance evaluation. Both measures were not associated with BMI. However, correlation coefficients did not differ between the WSSQ and the WBIS for all associations with validity measures. Further, both measures significantly predicted quality of life, self-esteem, depression, and anxiety, while the WBIS explained significantly more variance than the WSSQ total score for self-esteem.ConclusionsFindings indicate the WSSQ and the WBIS to be reliable and valid assessments of internalized weight stigma in prebariatric surgery patients, although the WBIS showed marginally more favorable results than the WSSQ. For both measures, longitudinal studies on stability and predictive validity are warranted, for example, for weight-related and psychosocial outcomes.

Dataset Information

Associations of weight stigma with cortisol and oxidative stress independent of adiposity.

Publications

Associations of weight stigma with cortisol and oxidative stress independent of adiposity.

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