The psychological consequences of weight change trajectories: evidence from quantitative and qualitative data.

Economics and Human Biology
Deborah Carr, Karen Jaffe

Abstract

We use quantitative and qualitative data to explore the psychological impact of weight change among American adults. Using data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) study, a survey of more than 3000 adults ages 25-74 in 1995, we contrast underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese I, and obese II/III persons along five psychosocial outcomes: positive mood, negative mood, perceived interpersonal discrimination, self-acceptance, and self-satisfaction. We further assess whether these relationships are contingent upon one's body mass index (BMI) at age 21. We find a strong inverse association between adult BMI and each of the five outcomes, reflecting the stigma associated with high body weight. However, overweight adults who were also overweight at age 21 are more likely than persons who were previously slender to say they were "very satisfied" with themselves. Results from 40 in-depth semi-structured interviews reveal similarly that persons who were persistently overweight or obese accept their weight as part of their identity, whereas those who experienced substantial weight increases (or decreases) struggle between two identities: the weight they actually are, and the weight that they believe exemplifies ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 11, 2016·Journal of Clinical Nursing·Elena FaccioSabrina Cipolletta
Mar 22, 2015·Economics and Human Biology·Joshua Berning
May 19, 2018·Journal of Clinical Nursing·Tamara O PerdueRobert Carels
Apr 12, 2013·The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition·Sandrine PéneauSerge Hercberg
Nov 2, 2018·Eating and Weight Disorders : EWD·Tamara O PerdueRobert Carels
Jun 2, 2020·Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine·I CotterM Cannon
Jul 16, 2021·Journal of Research on Adolescence : the Official Journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence·Lilla K PivnickRobert Crosnoe

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