Romantic partners’ weight criticism and Latina/o/x young adults’ relationship instability

Abstract

Negative interactions between romantic partners, such as when one partner criticizes another about their weight, are associated with poor relationship outcomes. The purpose of the study was to examine associations between romantic partner weight criticism, romantic relationship quality, gender, and Latinx young adults’ romantic relationship instability. Participants were recruited from a Qualtrics panel and completed 30-minute surveys online. The sample included 475 Latinx young adults (60% women; M age = 24.80 years, SD = 3.22; 66% Mexican) who reported on their experiences of romantic partner weight criticism, positive romantic relationship quality (e.g., intimacy, affection, nurturance), negative romantic relationship quality (e.g., conflict, antagonism), and relationship instability. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test the study goals. Overall, weight-related criticism was more strongly associated with romantic relationship instability for men than for women. Further, for men, associations between weight criticism and romantic relationship instability were also particularly strong in the context of low levels of negative romantic relationship quality compared to high levels of negative romantic relationship quality.

Couples losing kinship: A systematic review of weight stigma in romantic relationships

“…show that men's anti-fat attitudes and weight bias internalization were negatively associated with their own relationship satisfaction and sexual intimacy, suggesting that weight stigma may also affect men's perceptions of their relationships as well. Notably, Killoren et al (2021) found no significant differences in the frequency of reports of weight criticism between Latinx men and women, but that weight criticism from partners was associated with relationship instability for Latinx men but not women. They also noted that weight criticism for Latinx men was primarily experienced in terms of pressure to gain weight, not lose weight.…”

“…Only one study examined differences between White, Black, and Hispanic participants (Farhat et al., 2015). One study included only Black participants (Wickrama & Bryant, 2012) and one study included only Latinx participants (Killoren et al., 2021).…”

“…Killoren et al. (2021) examined the association between self‐reported weight criticism from partners and relationship quality among Latinx young adults in romantic relationships. In this study, most participants were in heterosexual relationships (86%) but the sample included participants in same‐sex and queer relationships.…”

“…Notably, Killoren et al. (2021) found no significant differences in the frequency of reports of weight criticism between Latinx men and women, but that weight criticism from partners was associated with relationship instability for Latinx men but not women. They also noted that weight criticism for Latinx men was primarily experienced in terms of pressure to gain weight, not lose weight.…”

Examining the influence of ethnic–racial socialization and parental warmth on Latinx youth psychosocial outcomes.

“…The NRI has been used extensively in Latinx populations in the United States. For instance, the NRI has been used to assess sibling (Jones et al, 2022), romantic partner (Killoren et al, 2022), and parent (Chancy et al, 2022) relationship qualities in samples of Latinx adolescents and young adults. Across studies, reliability has been good (α = .83–.95), and validity has been established in its association with outcomes.…”