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Mechanisms underlying weight status and healthcare avoidance in women: A study of weight stigma, body-related shame and guilt, and healthcare stress
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Mechanisms underlying weight status and healthcare avoidance in women: A study of weight stigma, body-related shame and guilt, and healthcare stress

Janell L. Mensinger, Tracy L. Tylka and Margaret E. Calamari
Body image, v 25, pp 139-147
Jun 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2018.03.001
PMID: 29574257
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

Body mass index Body shame Healthcare avoidance Treatment delay Weight bias internalization Weight stigma
•Higher weight women tend to avoid preventive and emergent healthcare.•We used Social Identity Threat theory to link weight status to healthcare avoidance.•Experienced and internalized weight stigma linked BMI to body shame.•Body shame linked experienced and internalized weight stigma to healthcare stress.•Healthcare stress linked body shame to healthcare avoidance. Studies show that women with high BMI are less likely than thinner women to seek healthcare. We aimed to determine the mechanisms linking women’s weight status to their healthcare avoidance. Women (N = 313) were surveyed from a U.S. health-panel database. We tested a theory-driven model containing multiple stigma and body-related constructs linking BMI to healthcare avoidance. The model had a good fit to the data. Higher BMI was related to greater experienced and internalized weight stigma, which were linked to greater body-related shame. Internalized weight stigma was also related to greater body-related guilt, which was associated with higher body-related shame. Body-related shame was associated with healthcare stress which ultimately contributed to healthcare avoidance. We discuss recommendations for a Weight Inclusive Approach to healthcare and the importance of enhancing education for health professionals in weight bias in order to increase appropriate use of preventive healthcare in higher weight women.

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12 Record Views
192 citations in Web of Science
195 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#5 Gender Equality
#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Psychiatry
Psychology, Clinical
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
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