MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library



    Does Knowing Hurt? Perceiving Oneself as Overweight Predicts Future Physical Health and Well-Being


    Daly, Michael, Robinson, Eric and Sutin, Angelina R. (2017) Does Knowing Hurt? Perceiving Oneself as Overweight Predicts Future Physical Health and Well-Being. Psychological Science, 28 (7). pp. 872-881. ISSN 0956-7976

    [thumbnail of md13.pdf]
    Preview
    Text
    md13.pdf

    Download (511kB) | Preview

    Abstract

    Identifying oneself as being overweight may be associated with adverse health outcomes, yet prospective tests of this possibility are lacking. Over 7 years, we examined associations between perceptions of being overweight and subsequent health in a sample of 3,582 U.S. adults. Perceiving oneself as being overweight predicted longitudinal declines in subjective health (d = −0.22, p < .001), increases in depressive symptoms (d = 0.09, p < .05), and raised levels of physiological dysregulation (d = 0.24, p < .001), as gauged by clinical indicators of cardiovascular, inflammatory, and metabolic functioning. These associations remained after controlling for a range of potential confounders and were observed irrespective of whether perceptions of being overweight were accurate or inaccurate. This research highlights the possibility that identifying oneself as overweight may act independently of body mass index to contribute to unhealthy profiles of physiological functioning and impaired health over time. These findings underscore the importance of evaluating whether weight-feedback interventions may have unforeseen adverse consequences.
    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: obesity; body image; weight stigma; health; well-being; open data; open materials;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
    Item ID: 15567
    Identification Number: 10.1177/0956797617696311
    Depositing User: Michael Daly
    Date Deposited: 24 Feb 2022 14:13
    Journal or Publication Title: Psychological Science
    Publisher: SAGE Publications
    Refereed: Yes
    Related URLs:
    URI: https://mu.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/15567
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

    Repository Staff Only (login required)

    Item control page
    Item control page

    Downloads

    Downloads per month over past year

    Origin of downloads