Beyond Perceived Discrimination: Weight Discrimination in College Social Networks Is Associated With Poorer Mental...

Weight discrimination is associated with poorer health but has not been studied using social network analysis. This is surprising, as discrimination is a highly social phenomenon, and peer relationships are associated with health, discrimination, and behavior.

The aim of this study was to analyze relationships between freshman health and weight discrimination in college social networks during October through December 2021.

This study used a cross-sectional design to analyze data from the Freshman Life and Student Health project.

Participants (n = 1216 [64% of the class]) included freshmen older than 17 years who were living on a mid-sized Southeastern US university campus (55% from racial and ethnic minoritized groups, 69% female, 32% first-generation college students).

Outcomes included disordered eating, physical activity, gym use, alcohol use, loneliness, stress, depression, and self-esteem.

Discrimination indices were calculated for each participant's unique position in the network on the basis of discriminatory behavior observed and perpetuated by one's direct connections (ie, immediate network) and direct plus indirect connections (eg, friends of friends, peripheral network). Multivariate regressions tested whether these indices were associated with health, while controlling for race, ethnicity, gender, first-generation college status, perceived weight discrimination, body mass index, and network size.

Immediate network discrimination related to poorer health (P = .002; partial eta squared [η_p²] = .023), including greater depression (P = .035; η_p² = .004), disordered eating (P < .001; η_p² = .013), perceived stress (P = .020; η_p² = .005), and loneliness (P = .006; η_p² = .007), plus lower self-esteem (P = .008; η_p² = .007), and less gym use (P = .012; η_p² = .006). Similarly, peripheral network discrimination was associated with poorer health (P = .013; η_p² = .017), including greater disordered eating (P < .001; η_p² = .010), loneliness (P = .009; η_p² = .006), and perceived stress (P = .005; η_p² = .007), and lower self-esteem (P = .003; η_p² = .008).

Weight discrimination in college social networks is related to poorer mental and behavioral health. Results suggest that network-level weight discrimination is related to poorer health, even after accounting for weight discrimination perceived by the individual.