Title: Examining the Role of Weight-Self Stigma and Social Comparison in Excessive Eating
With the presence of weight self-stigma and social comparison, overweight/obese individuals are more susceptible to engaging in maladaptive eating behaviors, such as loss of control eating and/or excessive eating. A heinous cycle of loss of control eating and/or excessive eating, as a means to cope with experiences of weight self-stigma and social comparison, causes overweight/obese individuals to face both physical and mental health issues. Previous research explores the impact of weight self-stigma and social comparison with regards to overweight/obese individuals’ likelihood of engaging in loss of control eating and/or excessive eating; however, few studies evaluate differing levels of weight self-stigma and social comparison, and its impact on loss of control eating determination and/or excessive eating determination. Understanding specific ranges of weight self-stigma and social comparison can provide early prevention to loss of control eating and/or excessive eating, as well as a direction towards more effective treatments. This study is a secondary data analysis from Project Fitlink, an ongoing study by Dr. Meghan Butryn, that investigates the benefits of data sharing in weight loss maintenance for obese/overweight individuals.
With the presence of weight self-stigma and social comparison, overweight/obese individuals are more susceptible to engaging in maladaptive eating behaviors, such as loss of control eating and/or excessive eating. A heinous cycle of loss of control eating and/or excessive eating, as a means to cope with experiences of weight self-stigma and social comparison, causes overweight/obese individuals to face both physical and mental health issues. Previous research explores the impact of weight self-stigma and social comparison with regards to overweight/obese individuals’ likelihood of engaging in loss of control eating and/or excessive eating; however, few studies evaluate differing levels of weight self-stigma and social comparison, and its impact on loss of control eating determination and/or excessive eating determination. Understanding specific ranges of weight self-stigma and social comparison can provide early prevention to loss of control eating and/or excessive eating, as well as a direction towards more effective treatments. This study is a secondary data analysis from Project Fitlink, an ongoing study by Dr. Meghan Butryn, that investigates the benefits of data sharing in weight loss maintenance for obese/overweight individuals.