Discrimination and Eating Disorder Psychopathology: A Meta-Analysis

• Published in: Behavior therapy Vol. 52; no. 2; pp. 406 - 417
• Main Authors: Mason, Tyler B., Mozdzierz, Paulina, Wang, Shirlene, Smith, Kathryn E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2021
• Subjects: Binge-Eating Disorder - diagnosis; body image; Body Weight; Cross-Sectional Studies; discrimination; feeding and eating disorders; Feeding and Eating Disorders - diagnosis; Female; Humans; meta-analysis; Psychopathology; vulnerable populations; meta-analysis; discrimination; body image; vulnerable populations; feeding and eating disorders
• ISSN: 0005-7894; 1878-1888
• DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2020.05.003

Eating disorders occur in diverse populations, and discrimination may be a specific factor that is related to higher eating disorder psychopathology among marginalized individuals. To evaluate the current evidence on this topic, a meta-analysis was used to quantitatively synthesize the literature on discrimination and eating disorder psychopathology across a heterogeneous range of studies. Searches were conducted in peer-reviewed journals and accessible unpublished dissertations of all years through January 2020. Studies were coded by two authors using a tailored coding form, and zero-order bivariate correlations were used as effect size measures. There were 55 cross-sectional studies extracted for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Results showed a small-to-medium association between discrimination and eating disorder psychopathology that was consistent across domains. Effect sizes were typically higher for weight discrimination. For binge eating and general eating disorder pathology, effects were smaller in studies that had larger proportions of women, and for binge eating only, effects were higher in college samples. These findings could suggest that discrimination represents a contributory factor related to eating disorder psychopathology across types of discrimination and eating disorder psychopathology. Implications are discussed for future research on discrimination and psychopathology including possible mechanisms. •A meta-analysis of discrimination and eating disorder (ED) pathology was conducted.•There was a small-to-medium association between discrimination and ED pathology.•Effects were generally larger for weight discrimination.•Discrimination may represents a contributory factor related to ED pathology.