Sequentially mediated effects of weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress in the association between perceived weight stigma and food addiction among Taiwanese university students: a cross-sectional study
Background: Weight-related stigma has negative physiological and psychological impacts on individuals’ quality of life. Stigmatized individuals may experience higher psychological distress and therefore increase the potential risk to develop obesity and/or food addiction. The present study examined...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2022
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/103179/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/103179/1/103179.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848863954073288704 |
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| author | Huang, Po-Ching Lee, Chiu-Hsiang Griffiths, Mark D. O’brien, Kerry S. Lin, Yi-Ching Gan, Wan Ying Poon, Wai Chuen Hung, Ching-Hsia Lee, Kuo-Hsin Lin, Chung-Ying |
| author_facet | Huang, Po-Ching Lee, Chiu-Hsiang Griffiths, Mark D. O’brien, Kerry S. Lin, Yi-Ching Gan, Wan Ying Poon, Wai Chuen Hung, Ching-Hsia Lee, Kuo-Hsin Lin, Chung-Ying |
| author_sort | Huang, Po-Ching |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background: Weight-related stigma has negative physiological and psychological impacts on individuals’ quality of life. Stigmatized individuals may experience higher psychological distress and therefore increase the potential risk to develop obesity and/or food addiction. The present study examined the associations and mediated effect between perceived weight stigma, weight-related self-stigma, and psychological distress in explaining food addiction among Taiwanese university students. Methods: All participants (n = 968) completed an online survey which included the Perceived Weight Stigma Questionnaire, Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire, Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21, and Yale Food Addiction Scale Version 2. Results: After controlling for demographic variables, significant associations were found in the paths from (1) perceived weight stigma to weight-related self-stigma (β = 0.23), psychological distress (β = 0.35), and food addiction (β = 0.23); (2) weight-related self-stigma to psychological distress (β = 0.52) and food addiction (β = 0.59); and (3) psychological distress to food addiction (β = 0.59) (all p-values < 0.001). The mediation model showed the sequential mediated effect of weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress in the association between perceived weight stigma and food addiction. Conclusions: The results provide novel insights that weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress sequentially mediated the relationship between perceived weight stigma and food addiction among Taiwanese university students. The findings of the present study could be implemented into interventions that aim to reduce food addiction derived from weight-related stigma. Future studies should consider group analysis to consider confounding factors or other populations to provide more evidence regarding the mechanism of weight-related stigma. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T13:41:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-103179 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T13:41:07Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-1031792024-10-17T01:07:17Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/103179/ Sequentially mediated effects of weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress in the association between perceived weight stigma and food addiction among Taiwanese university students: a cross-sectional study Huang, Po-Ching Lee, Chiu-Hsiang Griffiths, Mark D. O’brien, Kerry S. Lin, Yi-Ching Gan, Wan Ying Poon, Wai Chuen Hung, Ching-Hsia Lee, Kuo-Hsin Lin, Chung-Ying Background: Weight-related stigma has negative physiological and psychological impacts on individuals’ quality of life. Stigmatized individuals may experience higher psychological distress and therefore increase the potential risk to develop obesity and/or food addiction. The present study examined the associations and mediated effect between perceived weight stigma, weight-related self-stigma, and psychological distress in explaining food addiction among Taiwanese university students. Methods: All participants (n = 968) completed an online survey which included the Perceived Weight Stigma Questionnaire, Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire, Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21, and Yale Food Addiction Scale Version 2. Results: After controlling for demographic variables, significant associations were found in the paths from (1) perceived weight stigma to weight-related self-stigma (β = 0.23), psychological distress (β = 0.35), and food addiction (β = 0.23); (2) weight-related self-stigma to psychological distress (β = 0.52) and food addiction (β = 0.59); and (3) psychological distress to food addiction (β = 0.59) (all p-values < 0.001). The mediation model showed the sequential mediated effect of weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress in the association between perceived weight stigma and food addiction. Conclusions: The results provide novel insights that weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress sequentially mediated the relationship between perceived weight stigma and food addiction among Taiwanese university students. The findings of the present study could be implemented into interventions that aim to reduce food addiction derived from weight-related stigma. Future studies should consider group analysis to consider confounding factors or other populations to provide more evidence regarding the mechanism of weight-related stigma. Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2022 Article PeerReviewed text en cc_by_4 http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/103179/1/103179.pdf Huang, Po-Ching and Lee, Chiu-Hsiang and Griffiths, Mark D. and O’brien, Kerry S. and Lin, Yi-Ching and Gan, Wan Ying and Poon, Wai Chuen and Hung, Ching-Hsia and Lee, Kuo-Hsin and Lin, Chung-Ying (2022) Sequentially mediated effects of weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress in the association between perceived weight stigma and food addiction among Taiwanese university students: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Eating Disorders, 10 (1). pp. 1-10. ISSN 2050-2974 https://jeatdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40337-022-00701-y 10.1186/s40337-022-00701-y |
| spellingShingle | Huang, Po-Ching Lee, Chiu-Hsiang Griffiths, Mark D. O’brien, Kerry S. Lin, Yi-Ching Gan, Wan Ying Poon, Wai Chuen Hung, Ching-Hsia Lee, Kuo-Hsin Lin, Chung-Ying Sequentially mediated effects of weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress in the association between perceived weight stigma and food addiction among Taiwanese university students: a cross-sectional study |
| title | Sequentially mediated effects of weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress in the association between perceived weight stigma and food addiction among Taiwanese university students: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full | Sequentially mediated effects of weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress in the association between perceived weight stigma and food addiction among Taiwanese university students: a cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | Sequentially mediated effects of weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress in the association between perceived weight stigma and food addiction among Taiwanese university students: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sequentially mediated effects of weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress in the association between perceived weight stigma and food addiction among Taiwanese university students: a cross-sectional study |
| title_short | Sequentially mediated effects of weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress in the association between perceived weight stigma and food addiction among Taiwanese university students: a cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | sequentially mediated effects of weight-related self-stigma and psychological distress in the association between perceived weight stigma and food addiction among taiwanese university students: a cross-sectional study |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/103179/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/103179/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/103179/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/103179/1/103179.pdf |