The Breast Size Satisfaction Survey (BSSS) was established to assess women's breast size dissatisfaction and breasted experiences from a cross-national perspective. A total of 18,541 women were recruited from 61 research sites across 40 nations and completed measures of current-ideal breast size discrepancy, as well as measures of theorised antecedents (personality, Western and local media exposure, and proxies of socioeconomic status) and outcomes (weight and appearance dissatisfaction, breast awareness, and

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The increased risk of psychological distress among bariatric surgery candidates may be attributed, at least in part, to body image dissatisfaction (BID). The aim of the present study was to test the hypotheses that body image could be correlated with the psychological distress variables, and that emotional eating behaviours could mediate the relationship between body image and psychological distress. A sample of consecutive participants seeking bariatric surgery (N = 169, 67% females, mean age, 41.8 years [SD = 11.46], mean body mass index 42.0 kg/m 2 [SD = 11.0]) was recruited from a university-based bariatric centre, a week prior to scheduled surgery. Results showed that BID was positively correlated with suicidality (r = 0.18, P < 0.05), depression (r = 0.39, P < 0.01) and anxiety (r = 0.20, P < 0.05). The relation between BID and depression was partially mediated by emotional eating, whereas the relation between BID and suicidality was fully mediated by emotional eating. Physicians and other health professionals who treat bariatric surgery patients should be encouraged to detect behaviours indicating emotional eating, as these could be an indicator of psychological distress resulting from poor body image. K E Y W O R D S bariatric surgery, body image dissatisfaction, emotional eating, psychological distress 1 | INTRODUCTION The epidemic of overweight and obesity presents a global major challenge to chronic disease prevention and health across the life course. 1,2 Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for promoting weight loss and improving obesity-related physical comorbidity. 3Patients seeking bariatric surgery cope with diverse challenges that are associated with psychological distress, such as past-year (suicide attempts) (9%), and suicidal ideation (thoughts of harming, or killing oneself), compared to family, community members 4 and other (non-bariatric) surgery candidates. 5The increased risk of depression, anxiety and suicidality (suicidality will be used hereinafter to refer to suicidal behaviours ideation and attempts) 6 among bariatric surgery candidates, may be attributed in part to a severe decrease in their quality of life. 7 Body image dissatisfaction (BID) may substantially impair the psychological quality of life of these candidates.BID is defined as the negative perceptions and feelings one has about the body. 8 Evidence indicates that individuals with extreme obesity, especially females, tend to be more dissatisfied with their bodies than their normal weight counterparts. 3 Moreover, among bariatric surgery patients BID was found to be associated with lower self-esteem, weight-related stigma or overt discrimination, increased symptoms of depression, 9,10 anxiety 11,12 and psychiatric problems. 13,14 However, there is a paucity of data concerning the association of BID with suicidality in bariatric surgery patients, and results are varied.While there is some evidence that such an association does exist, at least among adolescents with disordered eating behaviours, 15,16 other stud...

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While large numbers of women report high levels of psychological distress associated with endometriosis, others report levels of distress that are comparable to those of healthy women. Thus, the aim of the current study was to develop an explanatory model for the effect of endometriosis on women’s psychological distress. Furthermore, it sought to further investigate the role of body image, self-criticism, and pain intensity on the psychological distress associated with endometriosis and establish the effect of chronic illness load on the development of this distress. This study comprised a total of 247 women aged 20–49 (M = 31.3, SD = 6.4)—73 suffering from endometriosis only, 62 suffering from endometriosis and an additional chronical illness (ACI), and 112 healthy peers (HP)—who completed the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-Item Scale, the Body Appreciation Scale-2, and the Self-Criticism Sub-Scale. When comparing each endometriosis group to their HP’s, we found that the differences between HP and endometriosis ACI in depression and anxiety were mediated by body image (Betas = 0.17 and 0.09, respectively, p’s < 0.05) and self-criticism (Betas = 0.23 and 0.26, respectively, p’s < 0.05). When comparing endometriosis participants to endometriosis ACI participants, differences in depression were mediated by body image, self-criticism, and pain intensity (Betas = 0.12, 0.13, 0.13 respectively, p’s < 0.05), and the differences in anxiety were mediated by self-criticism and pain intensity (Betas = 0.19, 0.08, respectively, p’s < 0.05). Physicians and other health professionals are advised to detect women with endometriosis ACI who are distressed, and to offer them appropriate intervention.