Abstract
College females completed multiple, standardized measures of their fear of fat, attitudinal body image, and binge eating and dieting. Situational weigh-in measures were taken, including latency to get on the scale and anxiety while being weighed. Based on current weight and a structured weight history questionnaire, three groups were constructed: normal-weight subjects without an overweight history (NW; n=24), normal-weight subjects who were formerly overweight (FOW; n=16), and those currently overweight (OW; n=24). Group comparisons revealed, as expected, that OW females, relative to their NW peers, had more weight-related anxieties, more negative body experiences, and more frequent past-year dieting. Consistent with Stunkard's original proposition, the FOW group regarded their bodies as fatter and less affectively satisfying and expressed more weigh-in anxiety than NW participants. Currently normal-weight FOW subjects seldom differed from the currently OW individuals. Clinical and research implications are considered, particularly with regard to the psychological sequelae of weight loss.
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Cash, T.F., Counts, B. & Huffine, C.E. Current and vestigial effects of overweight among women: Fear of fat, attitudinal body image, and eating behaviors. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 12, 157–167 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00960765
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00960765