This investigation explored experiences of weight stigma using momentary, real-time diary assessments among adults seeking weight loss treatment. In total, 51 participants completed diary assessments of weight stigmatizing events and reported how they felt and coped with each incident. Experiencing stigma was significantly associated with fewer positive and greater negative emotions. There was a significant inverse relationship between using positive self-talk and feeling numb and a positive relationship between using isolation/avoidance coping and feeling depressed, ashamed, and less happy. The significant negative momentary impacts of weight stigma likely contribute to the long-term negative consequences of experiencing weight stigma.

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Background and aims:Exercise dependence is implicated in the development of eating disorders and muscle dysmorphic disorder. Although conceptually these disorders represent similar pathologies they largely affect different genders and result in opposite body composition, appearance, and ideal-weight goals (i.e., to gain or lose/maintain weight). Therefore, understanding individuals' ideal-weight goals related to engaging in exercise while simultaneously examining gender differences in exercise dependence symptoms may help to identify those whom may be most at-risk for eating disorders and muscle dysmorphic disorder. The purpose of our study was to examine the moderating effect of gender for exercise dependence symptoms in relation to weight gain, loss, or maintenance goals. Methods: Self-reported exercise behavior and exercise dependence symptoms (i.e., Exercise Dependence Scale) were assessed in 513 undergraduate students. Results: Our analysis revealed a moderating effect for gender on ideal-weight goals and a gender difference in exercise dependence symptoms. Specifically, men who were dissatisfied with their current weight reported more exercise dependence symptoms than women. Conclusions: These results support a growing body of research and extend our understanding of the relationships among exercise dependence and gender specific body-focused psychiatric disorders.

The stigma of obesity impacts individuals across numerous life domains, and people with obesity are offered little legal protection against discrimination based on their body type. While a number of experiments have shown that stigmatizing attitudes toward obesity are somewhat malleable, fewer studies have tested the impact of interventions deployable outside of the lab. Fewer still have measured the impact on individuals' support for equal rights for people with obesity. This randomized trial examined the effects of viewing the weight stigma portion of HBO's The Weight of the Nation documentary on viewers' attitudes about obesity across several important domains, including support for equal rights for those with obesity relative to control participants. Participants were 109 young adults who watched a portion of HBO's The Weight of the Nation documentary or a control video. Following completion of the video, participants were asked to volunteer for a second unrelated study on prejudice in an adjacent computer lab. It was under the guise of this "unrelated study" that weight bias was assessed. Participants' negative judgments of people with obesity, desire for social distance, and support for equal rights for people with obesity improved after watching the video. Their perceived attractiveness of people with obesity did not change relative to the control condition. This study finds support for the use of a brief documentary film as a means to reduce stigma against persons with obesity.