Weight Bias Internalization and Psychosocial,Physical, and Behavioral Health: A Meta-Analysis of Cross-Sectional and Prospective Associations

Coinciding with widespread efforts to address obesity, weight bias internalization (a process of self-devaluation wherein individuals apply weight-biased stereotypes to themselves) has gained increased attention as a robust correlate of poor health outcomes. The present meta-analysis aimed to provide the largest quantitative synthesis of associations between weight bias internalization and health-related correlates. Studies that provided zero-order correlations for cross-sectional or prospective associations between weight bias internalization and physical, psychosocial, and behavioral health correlates were included in the meta-analysis. Meta-regression determined whether these associations differed based on demographic (sex/gender, race, age), anthropometric (body mass index), and study-level (publication status, sample type, study quality) moderators. Data for 149 (sub)samples were identified that included between 14 and 18,766 participants (M sample size = 534.96, SD = 1,914.43; M age = 34.73, SD = 12.61, range = 9.95–65.70). Results indicated that greater weight bias internalization was concurrently associated with worse psychosocial (e.g., negative and positive mental health, social functioning), physical (e.g., BMI, weight maintenance, health-related quality of life [HRQoL]), and behavioral health (e.g., disordered eating behaviors, healthy eating, physical activity) across most constructs, with effects ranging from small to very large in magnitude. Preliminary evidence also suggested that greater weight bias internalization was subsequently associated with less weight loss and increased negative mental health. Notable variations in the nature and magnitude of these associations were identified based on the health-related correlate and moderator under consideration. These findings indicate that weight bias internalization is linked to multiple adverse health-related outcomes and provide insight into priorities for future research, theory building, and interventions in this area.     

The NIH Science of Behavior Change Program: Looking Toward the Future

The National Institutes of Health established the Science of Behavior Change (SOBC) program to promote basic research on the initiation, personalization, and maintenance of health behavior change. The SOBC Resource and Coordinating Center now leads and supports activities to maximize the creativity, productivity, scientific rigor, and dissemination of the experimental medicine approach and experimental design resources. Here, we highlight those resources, including the Checklist for Investigating Mechanisms in Behavior-change Research (CLIMBR) guidelines introduced in this special section. We describe the ways in which SOBC can be applied across a range of domains and contexts, and end by considering ways to extend SOBC’s perspective and reach, so as to best promote behavior change linked with health, quality of life, and well-being.     

Behavioral pharmacology of methocinnamox: A potential new treatment for opioid overdose and opioid use disorder

Opioid overdose and opioid use disorder continue to be significant public health challenges despite the availability of effective medications and significant efforts at all levels of society. The emergence of highly potent and efficacious opioids such as fentanyl and its derivatives over the last decade has only exacerbated what was already a substantial problem. Behavioral pharmacology research has proven invaluable for understanding the effects of drugs as well as developing and evaluating pharmacotherapies for disorders involving the central nervous system, including substance abuse disorders. This paper describes a program of research characterizing a potent, selective, and long-lasting mu opioid receptor antagonist, methocinnamox, and evaluating its potential for treating opioid overdose and opioid use disorder. Studies in rodents and nonhuman primates demonstrate that methocinnamox prevents and reverses opioid-induced ventilatory depression and selectively blocks opioid self-administration. This work, taken together with rigorous in vitro and ex vivo studies investigating methocinnamox neuropharmacology, lays a solid foundation for the therapeutic utility of this potentially life-saving medication. Moreover, these studies demonstrate how rigorous behavioral pharmacological studies can be integrated in a broader drug discovery and development research program.     

COVID-19 lockdown anxiety harms newcomers' job satisfaction: A cross-lagged panel analysis during snap lockdowns in China

The COVID-19 pandemic may have been a difficult time to join a new organization. Drawing on the feelings-as-information theory, this study explores how COVID-19 lockdown anxiety influenced newcomers' job satisfaction during their first few months of work. We tested 357 new employees working in 84 cities across China. We conducted a longitudinal study, and participants were invited to complete the same survey at two time points. Cross-lagged panel analysis was conducted to test our hypotheses. We confirmed that COVID-19 lockdown anxiety at Time 1 predicted less job satisfaction at Time 2, whereas the data did not support the idea of reverse causality. These findings suggest public health crises like the pandemic can impact newcomers' job satisfaction, especially during China's Zero-Covid Policy.     

Habituation To The Reinforcer May Contribute To Multiple-schedule Behavioral Contrast

Habituation to the reinforcer may contribute to multiple-schedule behavioral contrast. According to this argument, reducing reinforcers in one component of a multiple schedule reduces habituation to the reinforcer. Reducing habituation enhances the value, or effectiveness, of the remaining reinforcers, producing positive contrast. Enriching the reinforcers in one component increases habituation to that reinforcer. Increasing habituation decreases the effectiveness of the reinforcer, producing negative contrast. Such an idea is simple and parsimonious. It is not contradicted by any well-established finding in the contrast literature. It makes several tested and untested predictions that are unusual. However, habituation cannot explain all contrast. A complete explanation requires postulating that at least one additional mechanism, controlled by the conditions of reinforcement in the following component, also contributes to contrast.     

Job Stress and Employee Well-Being Among Airline Personnel in an Asian Developing Country

This study examined the relationship between job stress and employees' well-being in a developing country in Asia. Job stress was operationalized in terms of perceived experiences at jobs which were chronic in nature. Employee well-being was operationalized in terms of organizational commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction. Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire from 150 employees working in a national carrier in a developing country in Asia. Pearson correlation and moderated multiple regression were used to analyze the data. Job stress was significantly related to organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Moderated multiple regression did not support the role of gender as a moderator of the stress–outcome relationship.     

Social Class Differences and Occupational Stress

This paper examines the findings of a large community-wide survey on occupational stress. Data were collected on a random sample of the general population within the North East of England. A total of 2345 people returned completed questionnaires, which represented all socioeconomic groups. The bivariate results revealed that job satisfaction is significantly greater among the higher socioeconomic groups, but no differences were found in mental and physical (psychosomatic) health among the various socioeconomic groups. The results from a multiple regression analysis provided evidence that the issue of control is significant in predicting greater job satisfaction among all social classes, but not for mental or physical well being.     

Job Insecurity in Recent Business School Graduates: Antecedents and Consequences

This research examined the relationship of perceived threats to job security, job satisfaction, and psychological mood among recent business school graduates. Most job insecurity research has considered longer-tenured organizational employees. Two hundred and seventeen respondents completed anonymous questionnaires. LISREL analysis provided considerable support for the research model. Perceived threats to job security had direct effects on job insecurity and job satisfaction and indirect effects on psychological mood through job insecurity and job satisfaction.     

ON THE REINFORCING EFFECTS OF THE CONTENT OF VERBAL ATTENTION

During a functional analysis, a boy with autism and oppositional defiant disorder displayed destructive behavior that was maintained by attention in the form of verbal reprimands (e.g., “Don't hit me”). In a second analysis, contingent verbal reprimands produced higher rates of the behavior than contingent statements that were unrelated to the target response (e.g., “It is sunny today”), suggesting that some forms of attention were more reinforcing than others. A treatment based on these analyses reduced the behavior to near-zero levels.     

The momentum of compliance

Compliance with demanding requests that are normally ineffective may be increased by presenting a series of easy or high-probability (high-p) requests before the more demanding requests. Mace and his colleagues have discussed the effectiveness of the high-p procedure in relation to behavioral momentum—the tendency for behavior, once initiated and reinforced, to persist in the face of a challenge. The high-p procedure differs in several ways from that employed in laboratory research on momentum, and the methods and findings of basic research may not be relevant to applied work on compliance. This article reviews some laboratory procedures used in research on behavioral momentum, summarizes the major findings of that research, and discusses its relevance to the high-p procedure and its outcomes. Increased compliance with demanding requests following the high-p procedure can be understood in relation to the procedures and findings of basic research, but some questions arise in the process of translating research into application via the metaphor of momentum. These questions suggest some new directions for both experimental and applied behavior analysis.