Meadows, A., & Higgs, S. (2020). Internalized weight stigma and the progression of food addiction over time. Body Image, 34
, 67–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.05.002
From the research article’s abstract: “Food addiction is associated with elevated levels of eating pathology, body image concerns, and internalized weight stigma. The role of internalized weight stigma in the progression of addictive-like eating has not been explored. This longitudinal study explored the relative contributions of weight-related self-devaluation and fear of being stigmatized by others in predicting changes in addictive-like eating behavior over time. 305 young adults (Mage = 18.7 years, SD = 1.1, range 18–28, MBMI = 21.9 kg/m2, SD =3.7 kg/m2, range 13.7–38.9 kg/m2) completed online measures of “food addiction,” weight-related self-devaluation, and fear of stigma from others at two time points (follow-up M = 280 days, SD = 30, range 155–474). At baseline, 7.9 % exhibited clinically relevant addictive-like eating behavior, 40.3 % self-classified as being “addicted to food”, and 51.8 % neither.