Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40673225›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2025

Weight stigma and mental health symptoms: mediation by perceived stress.

David G Figueroa, William D Murley, Jordan E Parker, Jeffrey M Hunger, A Janet Tomiyama

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

David G FigueroaDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
William D MurleyDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Jordan E ParkerDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Jeffrey M HungerDepartment of Psychology, Miami University, Oxford, OH, United States.
A Janet TomiyamaDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

Funding

Food Insecurity, Poor Diet, and Metabolic Syndrome: Cortisol’s Amplifying RoleR01DK128575 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI TOMIYAMA, A. JANET · 2021 to 2025
$2.0M
Obesity stigma and health behavior: An experimental approachR01HL158555 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI TOMIYAMA, A. JANET · 2021 to 2023
$1.3M
NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL158555NIDDK NIH HHS R01 DK128575
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Prior research has established that weight stigma, or social devaluation based on an individual's body size or weight, is directly related to greater depressive and anxiety symptoms. In this investigation, we apply the Cyclic Obesity/Weight-Based Stigma model to investigate if the association between weight stigma and poor mental health is mediated by greater perceived stress. We analyzed data from a census-matched sample (N=1,993) of the U.S. on age, race/ethnicity, gender, income, and census-region. Issues with missing data and mediation models were addressed using a Bayesian multiple imputation approach. Analyses controlled for Body Mass Index and sociodemographic variables as covariates. Weight stigma was directly associated with greater depressive and anxiety symptoms. Moreover, the relationship between weight stigma and greater depressive and anxiety symptoms was mediated by greater perceived stress. Perceived stress explained 37% of the relationship between weight stigma and mental health outcomes, even after accounting for Body Mass Index. These results provide evidence for weight stigma as an important psychosocial stressor that contributes to poor mental health outcomes.

Indexed as

anxiety symptomsdepressive symptomsmental health psychological symptomsperceived stressweight stigma

Identifiers

PMID40673225
PMCPMC12265077

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.