Dataset Information

Stigmatising views towards individuals with eating disorders: trends and associations from 1998 to 2008 using a repeated cross-sectional design.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Eating disorders are stigmatised. Little is known about whether stigma has decreased over time and which groups hold more stigmatising beliefs.

Aims

To explore whether stigma towards eating disorders has changed between 1998 and 2008 and whether it varies by sociodemographic characteristics.

Method

We used the Office for National Statistics Omnibus surveys 1998 and 2008. As outcomes, we selected four questions eliciting participants' views on issues of blame and ability to recover, and compared their mean scores across eating disorders, depression and alcohol dependence in both years. We used multivariable linear regressions to investigate associations between sociodemographic characteristics and each stigma domain.

Results

In total, 2720 participants had data on all variables of interest. Compared with 1998, in 2008 stigmatising views towards eating disorders improved. In both years, participants believed it was easier to recover from eating disorders than depression or alcohol dependence. Respondents believed people with eating disorders were more to blame for their condition than those with depression, but less than those with alcohol dependence. Men, those with less formal education, and those from ethnic minority backgrounds were more likely to place greater blame on individuals for their mental illness. Men were more likely than women to think it was possible to recover from an eating disorder.

Conclusions

Stigmatising attitudes towards people with eating disorders have improved over time, but are still greater than those observed for other mental illnesses. Improving eating disorder mental health literacy could help to reduce these negative views and lead to improved quality of life, greater help-seeking and better prognosis.

SUBMITTER: Guy J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7613245 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Stigmatising views towards individuals with eating disorders: trends and associations from 1998 to 2008 using a repeated cross-sectional design.

Guy Jennifer J Bould Helen H Lewis Glyn G Solmi Francesca F

The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science 20211209

<h4>Background</h4>Eating disorders are stigmatised. Little is known about whether stigma has decreased over time and which groups hold more stigmatising beliefs.<h4>Aims</h4>To explore whether stigma towards eating disorders has changed between 1998 and 2008 and whether it varies by sociodemographic characteristics.<h4>Method</h4>We used the Office for National Statistics Omnibus surveys 1998 and 2008. As outcomes, we selected four questions eliciting participants' views on issues of blame and ...[more]

PMID: 35049485

Similar Datasets

Project description:A considerable body of evidence links internalised weight stigma with higher levels of disordered eating behaviour and cognitions in both normative- and higher-weight populations. However, to date, the impact of internalised weight stigma on objectively measured food intake has not been explored. In the present study, a weight-diverse sample of 158 non-smoking adults (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 n = 72, BMI < 25 kg/m2 n = 86) were recruited to a study on "The effects of hunger and satiety on information processing." Participants first completed a series of online questionnaires, then attended a lab visit in a fed state. Participants were randomised to read a sham news article on the negative consequences of either weight (stigma condition) or smoking (control condition) and answer some questions about the article. Then, under the pretence of a non-study-relevant break, participants were exposed to a pre-weighed selection of sweet and savoury snacks for 15 min. Mood and hunger levels were assessed prior to and after reading the vignette, and after the break. In contrast to the relationship with self-report eating behaviour, internalised weight stigma was not a significant independent predictor of total energy intake and did not moderate the relationship between exposure to the stigma prime and calories consumed. However, differences emerged on the basis of participants' weight status. Higher-weight participants with high levels of internalised weight stigma consumed fewer snack calories following exposure to a weight-stigma prime compared with a neutral prime (B = -137, SE = 58, t = -2.35, p = 0.020, 95% CI -252, -22) whereas those with low levels of internalised weight stigma tended to eat more in the weight stigma condition (B = 118, SE = 62, t = 1.91, p = 0.059, 95% CI -4, 241). In normative-weight participants, no differences in energy intake by levels of internalised weight stigma were observed. These findings suggest differences in the relationships between internalised weight stigma and self-reported disordered eating behaviour versus eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) measured under laboratory conditions. Additionally, internalised weight stigma appears to have differential effects on response to stigma in higher-weight and normative-weight individuals.

Dataset Information

Stigmatising views towards individuals with eating disorders: trends and associations from 1998 to 2008 using a repeated cross-sectional design.

Background

Aims

Method

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Stigmatising views towards individuals with eating disorders: trends and associations from 1998 to 2008 using a repeated cross-sectional design.

Similar Datasets

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