| Background There are limiting studies evaluating the
weight self-stigma and its association with eating disorders
and health concerns. However, no study is available evaluating
weight self-stigma and its determinants among
reproductive age women in Iran. The aim of this study was
to evaluate weight self-stigma and its association with
quality of life and psychological distress among overweight
and obese Iranian women.
Materials and methods The current cross-sectional study
was performed among 170 women aged 17–45 years
referring to health centers of Tabriz-Iran. Anthropometric
assessments were performed. Weight self-stigma was
assessed by weight self-stigma questionnaire (WSSQ).
Evaluation of quality of life and psychological distress was
performed using SF-12 and general health questionnaires
(GHQ-12), respectively. Analysis of data was performed
by multivariate hierarchical regression analysis using SPSS
18 software.
Results In this study, the multivariate hierarchical regression
analysis revealed that being married and having low
total weight self-stigma and fear of enacted stigma (FES)
scores were associated with better physical component
summary scores (p\0.05). Whereas, younger ages and
lower total weight self-stigma scores were associated with
better mental component summary scores. In addition,
lower weight self-stigma total scores and lower self-devaluation
scores were predictors of lower psychological
distress.
Conclusion Our results indicated the negative impacts of
weight self-stigma on quality of life and psychological
distress among overweight and obese women. Since weight
stigma might be a potent barrier of obese individuals to
engage in health promoting behaviors, therefore, the results
of the current study further warrants the need for developing
interventional strategies to reduce the adverse
impacts of weight stigma on quality of life via including
the reduction of weight self-stigma as a key therapeutic
goal in obesity treatment programs. |