Impact of weight and health-behavior information on evaluations of girls' health.

The dominant public health narrative equates excess weight with poor health, and previous research has demonstrated that people judge adults with higher body weights as being in poor health, even when they engage in healthy lifestyles. The present study investigated whether the same pattern of beliefs holds for perceptions of children's health. Participants (n = 445) viewed the health profile of a female child that varied in terms of weight status (normal weight, obese), health behaviors (good, poor), and age (younger, older), and then rated the child's overall health and indicated their agreement with suggested behavior recommendations.

Self-concept clarity and appearance comparisons in everyday life.

Individuals who lack a clear sense of their own identity tend to make more appearance-based comparisons and experience more body dissatisfaction, but previous research in this domain has primarily relied on cross-sectional data reflecting people's retrospective recall of their general appearance-comparison tendencies. In this study, we examined the association between trait self-concept clarity and the frequency and impact of appearance comparisons in women's everyday lives. Participants (146 women) completed a trait measure of self-concept clarity, and then participated in an ecological momentary assessment study in which they were signaled 5 times per day for 5 days and reported any appearance comparisons they made as well as their body image, affect, dieting/exercising thoughts, and dieting/exercise behavior.

Isolating the effects of body size and sexualisation in social media images on body image-related constructs among young women.

This study systematically separated the effects of body size and sexualisation in social media images on women's body image. Young women (18-25 years, N = 194) viewed 10 social media images of either (1) sexualised women in larger bodies; (2) non-sexualised women in larger bodies; (3) sexualised women in smaller bodies; or (4) non-sexualised women in smaller bodies. Participants completed pre- and post-exposure measures of body image and related constructs.

Evidence of a self-serving bias in people's attributions for their food intake.

People often fail to acknowledge external influences on their food intake, but there might be some circumstances in which people are willing to report that those external factors influenced their behavior. This study examined whether participants who believed that they had overeaten would indicate that the portion size they were served influenced their food intake. Participants (119 women) ate a pasta lunch at two separate sessions, one week apart.

Psychological predictors of adherence to lifestyle changes after bariatric surgery: A systematic review.

Objective: Adherence to lifestyle changes after bariatric surgery is associated with better health outcomes; however, research suggests that patients struggle to follow post-operative recommendations. This systematic review aimed to examine psychological factors associated with adherence after bariatric surgery.

Methods: PubMed, PsycInfo, and Embase were searched (from earliest searchable to August 2022) to identify studies that reported on clinically modifiable psychological factors related to adherence after bariatric surgery.