"I Feel Like Less of a Mom": Experiences of Weight Stigma by Association among Mothers of Children with Overweight and Obesity.

Background: Parents of children with higher weight are blamed and shamed for their children's weight. However, parents' experiences of this form of stigma, termed weight stigma by association, are poorly understood. The objective of this study was to investigate the sources, forms, and impacts of weight stigma by association among mothers of children with overweight or obesity. Methods: In this qualitative study, mothers who reported concern about their children's weight participated in semistructured interviews administered by the research team. A coding scheme was developed and reliably applied to interview transcripts. Mothers' self-reported sociodemographic information, and height and weight were measured. Results: Thirty-four mothers (Mage: 43.4 years; 26.5% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 70.6% with obesity) participated in the study. Mothers reported that family members were a common source of negative comments about their children's weight; these comments were often critical of mothers' parenting and in some cases contributed to negative affect among mothers. Many mothers also reported negative experiences during children's physicians' visits as a result of their children's weight. Almost all mothers expressed guilt and sadness for their perceived role in their children's weight status, expressing regret that they did not parent differently. Conclusions: Mothers of children with overweight and obesity are frequently the target of weight stigma by association and experience negative cognitions and emotions regarding their perceived role in their children's weight. Continued research is needed to elucidate the impacts of stigma by association due to child weight on parents' health, the parent/child relationship, and children's health.

Longitudinal follow-up of a comprehensive operationalization of eating disorder recovery: Concurrent and predictive validity.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to replicate the concurrent validity of a comprehensive definition of eating disorder recovery (physical, behavioral, and cognitive indices) in a sample followed up 7-8 years from baseline, and to examine, for the first time with this comprehensive definition, predictive validity. METHOD: Participants were 66 women with a history of an eating disorder and 31 age-matched controls who completed an online survey and phone interview. RESULTS: In general, women who were fully recovered were statistically indistinguishable from controls and had significantly less eating disorder attitudes and behaviors than the partially recovered and eating disorder groups. Being fully recovered at baseline was a robust predictor of stability: of those fully recovered at baseline, 80% remained fully recovered at follow-up. One-third of those with an eating disorder and one-half of those in partial recovery at baseline attained full recovery at follow-up. DISCUSSION: These findings support the current operationalization of eating disorder recovery, encompassing physical, behavioral, and cognitive indices, as valid and highlight that full recovery is not only possible but predicts full recovery years later. Future research should examine this operationalization in diverse samples and study trajectories of recovery to identify predictors.