An experimental investigation of the consequences and social functions of fat talk in friendship groups

Cruwys, Tegan; Leverington, Carly T.; Sheldon, Anne M.

doi:10.1002/eat.22446

Cited by 36 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Similar to findings on adolescent girls’ attempts to avoid peer rejection, several studies on fat talk have revealed that young women sense expectations to participate in fat talk when observing friends engaging in fat talk (Cruwys et al, 2016; Martz et al, 2009). Cruwys et al examined relationships among fat talk, thin-ideal internalization, and dieting intentions using an experimental design, where they manipulated fat talk in participants’ actual friendship groups.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Developmental changes in fat talk to avoid peer rejection in Japanese girls and young women

Takamura

Yamazaki

Omori

2019

Health Psychology Open

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“Fat talk” refers to conversations focused on body disparagement. We examined developmental changes in fat talk to avoid social rejection and the mediating role of fat talk between “thin-ideal” internalization and body dissatisfaction. A total of 214 high school girls and 227 college-aged women completed questionnaires assessing fat talk engagement, body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, and sensitivity to rejection. Path analyses showed that fat talk mediated between thin-ideal internalization and body dissatisfaction and that rejection sensitivity predicted fat talk among high school girls, but not among college women. The purpose of fat talk differed by developmental stage, suggesting that interventions for improving body image should be developmentally tailored.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Developmental changes in fat talk to avoid peer rejection in Japanese girls and young women

Takamura

Yamazaki

Omori

2019

Health Psychology Open

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“…The thin‐body ideal may be transmitted in a peer group through so‐called ‘fat talk’. Engaging in fat talk is associated with both higher social acceptance—provided the peer‐group norm is pro‐fat talk—and increased correlates of disordered eating (Cruwys, Leverington, & Sheldon, ). Whether this process underlies the relationship between social acceptance and eating pathology in our study is a question for future research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self‐esteem and peer‐perceived social status in early adolescence and prediction of eating pathology in young adulthood

Smink

Hoeken

Dijkstra

et al. 2018

Intl J Eating Disorders

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ObjectiveSelf‐esteem is implied as a factor in the development of eating disorders. In adolescence peers have an increasing influence. Support for the role of self‐esteem in eating disorders is ambiguous and little is known about the influence of social status as judged by others. The present study investigates whether self‐esteem and peer status in early adolescence are associated with eating pathology in young adulthood.MethodThis study is part of TRAILS, a longitudinal cohort study on mental health and social development from preadolescence into adulthood. At age 11, participants completed the Self‐Perception Profile for Children, assessing global self‐esteem and self‐perceptions regarding social acceptance, physical appearance, and academic competence. At age 13, peer status among classmates was assessed regarding likeability, physical attractiveness, academic performance, and popularity in a subsample of 1,007 participants. The Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale was administered at age 22. The present study included peer‐nominated participants with completed measures of self‐perception at age 11 and eating pathology at age 22 (N = 732; 57.8% female).ResultsIn a combined model, self‐perceived physical attractiveness at age 11 and peer popularity at age 13 were inversely correlated with eating pathology at 22 years, while likeability by peers at age 13 was positively related to eating pathology.DiscussionBoth self‐perceptions and peer status in early adolescence are significant predictors of eating pathology in young adults. Specific measures of self‐esteem and peer‐perceived status may be more relevant to the prediction of eating pathology than a global measure of self‐esteem.

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“…Assigning value to a stimulus is contingent upon context: a highly palatable food may be experienced as less palatable in a social context in which people are discussing the stigma associated with weight gain [18]. AN typically onsets in early adolescence, a developmental period in which interoceptive states are increasingly elaborated by social contexts [19, 20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurobiology of social reward valuation in adults with a history of anorexia nervosa

et al. 2018

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ObjectiveAnorexia nervosa (AN) is a disorder characterized by atypical patterns of reward valuation (e.g. positive valuation of hunger). Atypical reward processing may extend into social domains. If so, such findings would be of prognostic significance as impaired social functioning predicts worse outcome. We explore neural circuits implicated in social reward processing in individuals with a history of AN who are weight-restored relative to controls and examine the effects of illness course on the experience of social value.Method20 weight-restored individuals with a history of AN (AN-WR) and 24 healthy control (HC) participants were assessed using fMRI tasks that tapped social reward: smiling faces and full human figures that varied in attractiveness and weight.ResultsAN-WR differed from HC in attractiveness ratings by weight (negatively correlated in AN-WR). While there were no significant differences when viewing smiling faces, viewing full figures resulted in decreased activation in regions implicated in reward valuation (the right caudate) for AN-WR and this region was negatively correlated with a sustained course of the disorder. Exploratory whole brain analyses revealed reduced activation in regions associated with social reward, self-referential processing, and cognitive reappraisal (e.g., medial prefrontal cortex, striatum, and nucleus accumbens) with sustained disorder course.DiscussionThe rewarding value of full body images decreases with a sustained disorder course. This may reflect an extension of atypical reward processing documented in AN-WR, perhaps as a function of starvation dampening visceral motivational signals; the deployment of cognitive strategies that lessen the experience of reward; and/or the nature of the stimuli themselves as provocative of eating disorder symptoms (e.g., thin bodies). These findings did not extend to smiling face stimuli. Advances in technology (e.g., virtual avatars, text messaging) may provide novel means to build relationships, including therapeutic relationships, to support improved social connections without threats to symptom provocation.

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An experimental investigation of the consequences and social functions of fat talk in friendship groups

Cited by 36 publications

References 35 publications

Developmental changes in fat talk to avoid peer rejection in Japanese girls and young women

Developmental changes in fat talk to avoid peer rejection in Japanese girls and young women

Self‐esteem and peer‐perceived social status in early adolescence and prediction of eating pathology in young adulthood

Neurobiology of social reward valuation in adults with a history of anorexia nervosa

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