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theses

Background: Sexual minority women are nearly three times more likely to be overweight or obese than their heterosexual counterparts, yet little research has investigated why or how sexual minority status confers risk for obesity in women (Boehmer, Bowen & Bauer, 2007). The current study examined the relevance of one factor, minority stress, as a mechanism for weight disparity in this group. Sexual minority women belong to multiple socially stigmatized groups: being non-heterosexual, being female, and for 60% of this group, being overweight. This “triple oppression” exposes sexual minority women to unique and chronic minority stressors, including repeated experiences of external stigmatization (i.e., being treated unfairly or differently) and internal stigmatization (i.e., internalized shame and hostility) (Meyer, 2003). Social rejection is stressful, causing chronic elevations in stress and negative emotion that some sexual minority women may try to regulate by overeating and/or binge eating. Over time, these behaviors may promote weight gain and risk for obesity, resulting in a positive feedback loop of stigmatization, stress, overeating, and weight gain.
Methods: To test this proposed theoretical model, the current study used Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) methods to examine whether lifetime and acute minority stress increased risk for elevated levels of stress, negative emotion, overeating, and binge eating in sexual minority women. 55 overweight or obese (BMI>25) sexual minority (e.g.,lesbian, bisexual, queer, pansexual) women were recruited from the local community to complete baseline assessments of eating behavior and minority stress related to sexual orientation, weight, and gender. For the following five days, participants used a smartphone application to report experiences of perceived stigmatization, overeating, binge eating, stress, and negative emotion five times daily.
Results: Study findings reveal promising support for the proposed model. As expected, women who reported greater lifetime heterosexist, gender-based, and weight-based stigma reported higher baseline levels of stress, depression, disordered eating symptoms, and binge eating symptoms, and greater daily stress and negative emotion during the EMA period. Stigma events reported during the EMA period were associated with greater concurrent negative emotion and overeating at the same signal, and being stigmatized on any given day was associated with more stress, negative emotion, overeating, and binge eating on that day.
Conclusions: The current study provides preliminary support for minority stress as a potential mechanism of the obesity disparity among sexual minority women. Given the paucity of research in this area and this study’s small and preliminary nature, findings justify future research studies to unpack the relevance and significance of minority stress as a risk factor for obesity among sexual minority women using longer monitoring periods and larger, more diverse samples. This research will be essential for developing effective, informed, and tailored interventions to reduce obesity, to increase knowledge and resources for coping, and to improve health among sexual minority women.

ETD_9056

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Emily Panza

doi:10.7282/t3-2nh7-x127

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.