1,721,091 research outputs found
Weight status or weight stigma? Obesity stereotypes—Not excess weight—Reduce working memory in school-aged children
Full text linkThe high prevalence of childhood obesity has drawn increasing attention to the neurocognitive impairments associated with excess weight, and evidence has accumulated of a progressive decline in working memory at increasing levels of children's Body Mass Index (BMI). However, obesity is also a highly stigmatizing condition, and pervasive societal stereotypes depict individuals with obesity as less intelligent than those with average weight. For this reason, we investigated whether stereotype threat (i.e., the fear of confirming a negative stereotype attached to one's social groups) contributes to working memory impairments in children with excess weight. By applying a consolidated paradigm in stereotype threat research, primary school-age children (N = 176) performed a computerized working memory task that was alternatively labeled as diagnostic (i.e., stereotype-threatening) or nondiagnostic (i.e., non-stereotype-threatening) of their intellectual ability. Results confirmed that working memory decreased at increasing levels of BMI in the stereotype-threatening condition, whereas the relation between body weight and working memory was null when task diagnosticity was removed. This effect was not further moderated by children's direct experiences of weight-based stigmatization or by their personal endorsement of the obesity stereotype about intelligence. These findings suggest that vulnerability to weight-related stereotype threat emerges early in life and may contribute to working memory deficits in children with obesity
Does weight stigma reduce working memory? Evidence of stereotype threat susceptibility in adults with obesity
No full textBackground
Obesity is a highly stigmatizing condition, and reduced cognitive functioning is a stereotypical trait ascribed to individuals with obesity. In the present work, we tested the hypothesis that stereotype threat (i.e., a depletion of working memory resources due to the fear of confirming a negative self-relevant stereotype when a stereotype-related ability is assessed) contributes to cognitive deficits in individuals with obesity.
Methods
Computerized tests of (a) working memory and (b) probabilistic learning—an ability unrelated with working memory—were administered to a community sample of 131 adults. Stereotype threat was manipulated by altering the alleged nature of the tasks; the tasks were alternatively labeled as intelligence tests (high stereotype threat condition), memory and learning tests (standard instructions condition), or distraction games (low stereotype threat condition).
Results
A negative relation between body mass index (BMI) and working memory emerged in both the high stereotype threat (95% CIs = −0.872, −0.175, p = 0.003) and the standard instructions conditions (95% CIs = −0.974, −0.153, p = 0.007), but not in the low stereotype threat condition (95% CIs = −0.266, 0.430, p = 0.643). No effect emerged on probabilistic learning.
Conclusion
Stereotype threat is associated with impaired working memory of individuals with obesity. Implications for researchers and clinicians are discussed
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Full text linkIntroduction to the special section on Developmental Perspectives on the Sexualization of Girls and Women
No full textWe provide an overview of the special section of the International Journal of Behavioral Development titled, "Developmental Perspectives on the Sexualization of Girls and Women.
Stereotype threat beyond gender and mathematics: The cognitive burden of stigmatising health conditions
Full text linkThe stereotype threat theory has been one of the leading conceptual frameworks adopted by social and educational psychologists to explain why members of stigmatised groups systematically underperform and are at risk of withdrawal in academic settings. Much stereotype threat research, as well as recent criticisms on strengths and limitations of the extant stereotype threat literature, has focused on the impact of negative stereotypes about girls’ and women’s ability in mathematics. However, evidence of stereotype threat susceptibility has emerged across a host of stigmatised groups and in relation to a variety of challenging ability domains. In this chapter, research highlighting stereotype threat effects related to stigmatising health conditions will be explored, with a special focus on the consequences of low academic and cognitive competence stereotypes attached to adults and children with neurodevelopmental disorders, physical disability, and obesity. Implications for future research on stigmatised identities and academic achievement are discussed
How is weight stigma related to children’s health-related quality of life? A model comparison approach
No full textPurpose: Obesity is a highly stigmatizing condition for both adults and children, and both obesity and stigma experiences are negatively related with health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, the relations among these constructs have been modeled in different and sometimes inconsistent terms in past research, and have been the object of surprisingly few studies in pediatric populations. The present study addresses this gap by comparing, in a sample of preadolescent children, four competing models (i.e., additive, mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation models) accounting for the role of stigma experiences in the concurrent relation between body weight and HRQoL. Methods: A community sample of 600 children aged 8–11 years completed the Perception of Teasing Scale to assess weight-based teasing experiences and the PedsQL 4.0 to assess HRQoL. Parent-reported height and weight were used to calculate age- and gender-adjusted zBMI. Log-likelihood test, BIC difference, and Wald test were used for model comparisons. Results: The mediation model outperformed both additive and moderation models and was found to be equally informative (but more parsimonious) as compared to the moderated mediation account. The same pattern of results was replicated for both global HRQoL and domain-specific quality of life domains (i.e., physical, emotional, social, and scholastic). Conclusions: The mediation model provided the best fitting and more parsimonious representation of the relations between body weight, stigma experiences, and HRQoL, meaning that an increased likelihood of experiencing weight-based teasing episodes, rather than excess weight per se, is associated with reduced quality of life in middle childhood
Developmental relations between sense of community and well-being among early adolescents: A latent change score modelling study
No full textPrevious research on sense of community (SOC) has predominantly assumed that this construct plays a role in predicting well-being (WB). However, it is only recently that a bidirectional relationship between SOC and WB has been hypothesised and tested. Moreover, no study investigated the longitudinal relationships between psychological WB and SOC among early adolescents. The present research followed a sample of middle school students from six-grade through nine-grade to investigate the reciprocal relationships between SOC and WB. Participants were 576 Italian students. In the present article, we utilised latent change score modelling based on longitudinal data collected in three waves across 3 years. Using bivariate dual change score modelling, dynamic reciprocal relationships were observed between SOC and WB. The revealed bidirectional relationship between SOC and WB contribute to the extant literature by illuminating more nuanced interplays between these constructs among early adolescents
Evaluating interventions with victims of intimate partner violence: a community psychology approach
Full text linkPurpose: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is one of the most common forms of domestic violence, with profound implication for women's physical and psychological health. In this text we adopted the Empowerment Process Model (EPM) by Cattaneo and Goodman (Psychol Violence 5(1):84–94) to analyse interventions provided to victims of IPV by a Support Centre for Women (SCW) in Italy, and understand its contribution to women’s empowerment. Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews with ten women who had been enrolled in a program for IPV survivors at a SCW in the past three years. The interviews focused on the programs’ aims, actions undertaken to reach them, and the impact on the women’s lives, and were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological approach. Results: Results showed that the interventions provided by the SWC were adapted according to women's needs. In the early phases, women’s primary aim was ending violence, and the intervention by the SCW was deemed as helpful to the extent it provided psychological support, protection and safe housing. Women’s aims subsequently moved to self-actualisation and economic and personal independence which required professional training, internships, and social support. Although satisfying the majority of the women’s expectations, other important needs (e.g., economic support or legal services) were poorly addressed, and cooperation with other services (e.g., police or social services) was sometimes deemed as critical. Conclusions: By evaluating a program offered by a SCW to IPV survivors through the lens of the EPM model, we found that women deemed the program as effective when both individual resources and empowerment processes were promoted. Strengths, limitations and implications are discussed
Sexualization and youth: Concepts, theories, and models
No full textYouth in Western countries are exposed to many messages that sexualize women. We selectively review the literature on sexualization with the goal of clarifying and integrating theories, constructs, and models of the pathways and mechanisms via which exposure to such messages may affect youth. In the first section of the article, we define sexualization and discuss historical change concerning the construct. In the second section, we highlight the role that core values concerning sexuality and gender play in designing and interpreting research on sexualization. In the third section, we provide a conceptual analysis of the various psychological constructs related to sexualization, noting their roots in particular theories. In the fourth section, we discuss developmental issues and, in fifth and sixth sections, we present conceptual models of the antecedents and consequences of believing that sexual attractiveness to men is an important aspect of the female gender role among girls and boys, respectively
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