NCT04161638

Weight Stigma in Women Who Are Obese: Assessing How an Acute Exposure to Stigma Negatively Impacts Cardiovascular Health

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 49 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Connecticut · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 20 Years – 50 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The current study examined the influence of an acute weight stigma exposure on cardiovascular reactivity among women with obesity and high blood pressure and women with obesity and normal blood pressure.

Detailed description

The current study examined the influence of two video exposures, one containing scenes of weight stigma (STIGMA) and the other non-stigmatizing neutral (NEUTRAL) scenes, on cardiovascular reactivity as assessed by resting BP and ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and heart rate (HR), among women with obesity and high BP (HBP) or normal BP (NBP). The investigators hypothesized that as a result of STIGMA compared to NEUTRAL, cardiovascular reactivity would be significantly greater immediately upon watching the video and persist outside of the laboratory over ambulatory conditions in women with obesity and HBP compared to women with obesity and NBP.

Conditions

• Stigma, Social
• Obesity
• Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor
• Blood Pressure

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Stigma Video Exposure	The participants watched a 10 minute video on a computer screen that consisted of brief clips from popular television shows that depicted women with overweight and obesity and evoked negative weight-based stereotypes (e.g., clumsy, loud, and lazy). Both the high blood pressure and normal blood pressure arms participated in this intervention.
BEHAVIORAL	Neutral video exposure	The participants watched a 10 minute video on a computer screen that consisted of a series of clips depicting neutral scenes (e.g., insurance commercials). Both the high blood pressure and normal blood pressure arms participated in this intervention.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-11-22
• Primary completion: 2019-01-11
• Completion: 2019-01-11
• First posted: 2019-11-13
• Last updated: 2022-05-25