Abstract
Child and adolescent obesity is increasingly the focus of interventions, because it predicts serious disease morbidity later in life. However, social environments that permit weight-related stigma and body shame may make weight control and loss more difficult. Rarely do youth obesity interventions address these complexities. Drawing on repeated measures in a large sample (N = 1443) of first-year (freshman), campus-resident university students across a nine-month period, we model how weight-related shame predicts depressive symptom levels, how being overweight (assessed by anthropometric measures) shapes that risk, and how social connection (openness to friendship) might mediate/moderate. Body shame directly, clearly, and repeatedly predicts depression symptom levels across the whole school year for all students, but overweight youth have significantly elevated risk. Social connections mediate earlier in the school year, and in all phases moderate, body shame effects on depression. Youth obesity interventions would be well-served recognizing and incorporating the influential roles of social-environmental factors like weight stigma and friendship in program design.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 891 |
| Journal | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 1 2018 |
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Keywords
- Adolescents
- Depression
- Friendship
- Intervention
- Obesity
- Peers
- Shame
- Stigma
- Weight
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Cite this
Weight shame, social connection, and depressive symptoms in late adolescence. / Slade, Alexandra; Bruening, Meredith.
In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol. 15, No. 5, 891, 01.05.2018.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Weight shame, social connection, and depressive symptoms in late adolescence
AU - Slade, Alexandra
AU - Bruening, Meredith
PY - 2018/5/1
Y1 - 2018/5/1
N2 - Child and adolescent obesity is increasingly the focus of interventions, because it predicts serious disease morbidity later in life. However, social environments that permit weight-related stigma and body shame may make weight control and loss more difficult. Rarely do youth obesity interventions address these complexities. Drawing on repeated measures in a large sample (N = 1443) of first-year (freshman), campus-resident university students across a nine-month period, we model how weight-related shame predicts depressive symptom levels, how being overweight (assessed by anthropometric measures) shapes that risk, and how social connection (openness to friendship) might mediate/moderate. Body shame directly, clearly, and repeatedly predicts depression symptom levels across the whole school year for all students, but overweight youth have significantly elevated risk. Social connections mediate earlier in the school year, and in all phases moderate, body shame effects on depression. Youth obesity interventions would be well-served recognizing and incorporating the influential roles of social-environmental factors like weight stigma and friendship in program design.
AB - Child and adolescent obesity is increasingly the focus of interventions, because it predicts serious disease morbidity later in life. However, social environments that permit weight-related stigma and body shame may make weight control and loss more difficult. Rarely do youth obesity interventions address these complexities. Drawing on repeated measures in a large sample (N = 1443) of first-year (freshman), campus-resident university students across a nine-month period, we model how weight-related shame predicts depressive symptom levels, how being overweight (assessed by anthropometric measures) shapes that risk, and how social connection (openness to friendship) might mediate/moderate. Body shame directly, clearly, and repeatedly predicts depression symptom levels across the whole school year for all students, but overweight youth have significantly elevated risk. Social connections mediate earlier in the school year, and in all phases moderate, body shame effects on depression. Youth obesity interventions would be well-served recognizing and incorporating the influential roles of social-environmental factors like weight stigma and friendship in program design.
KW - Adolescents
KW - Depression
KW - Friendship
KW - Intervention
KW - Obesity
KW - Peers
KW - Shame
KW - Stigma
KW - Weight
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046361385&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85046361385&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph15050891
DO - 10.3390/ijerph15050891
M3 - Article
VL - 15
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
SN - 1661-7827
IS - 5
M1 - 891
ER -