Fat phobia: measuring, understanding, and changing anti-fat attitudes

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Fat phobia, a pathological fear of fatness, is a significant concern in body image and mental health.
• Understanding the correlates and effective treatments for fat phobia is crucial for clinical interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Fat Phobia Scale.
• To identify demographic and psychological correlates of fat phobia.
• To evaluate a treatment approach for reducing fat phobia.

Main Methods:

• Development of a 50-item semantic differential Fat Phobia Scale.
• Factor analysis to determine scale structure.
• Administration of the scale to a large sample and a treatment group.
• Pre- and post-treatment assessment of fat phobic attitudes.

Main Results:

• The Fat Phobia Scale demonstrated reliability and validity with six underlying factors.
• Average weight, female, younger, more educated, and nonmedical professionals were more likely to exhibit fat phobic attitudes.
• A treatment intervention significantly decreased overall Fat Phobia Scale scores and all factor scores.

Conclusions:

• The Fat Phobia Scale is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring fat phobia.
• Specific demographic groups are more susceptible to fat phobic attitudes.
• The tested treatment approach effectively reduces pathological fear of fatness.