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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1474844

Psychosocial distress in people with overweight and obesity: the role of weight stigma and social support

Provisionally accepted
Vladimíra Timková Vladimíra Timková *Pavol Mikula Pavol Mikula Iveta Nagyova Iveta Nagyova
  • Department of Social and Behavioural Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Kosice, Kosice, Slovakia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    We aimed to assess the role of weight stigma and social support in depression, anxiety, and loneliness controlling for sociodemographic and clinical variables. A total of 189 adults with overweight/obesity were included. Participants were recruited from outpatient clinics by general practitioners which covered all regions of Slovakia. Correlation analyses and multiple linear regression were used to analyse the data. Participants experienced weight-related teasing (40.4%), unfair treatment (18.0%), and discrimination (14.1%). We found an association between lower age, female sex and psychological distress. No role of obesity indicators in psychosocial distress was identified, except for a small association between body mass index and depression in correlation analyses. Significant associations between experienced weight stigma/self-stigmatization and psychosocial distress weakened when variables related to the social support system were added to the linear regression. Poor social support was strongly associated with depression, anxiety, and loneliness. The explained variance in the final regression models was 42%, 44%, and 54%, respectively. Weight stigma negatively affects mental health and a sense of belonging while it seems to be a more significant contributor to psychosocial distress compared to obesity per se. Interventions targeting weight-related self-stigmatization and social relationships may mitigate the negative impact of weight stigma on psychosocial well-being.

    Keywords: Overweight, Obesity, Weight Stigma, social support, Psychosocial distress

    Received: 02 Aug 2024; Accepted: 13 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Timková, Mikula and Nagyova. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Vladimíra Timková, Department of Social and Behavioural Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Kosice, Kosice, 040 11, Slovakia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.