Obesity and Victimization - Study
Adolescent Obesity, Overt and Relational
Peer Victimization, and Romantic Relationships
Obesity Study - Aim
To examine associations between obesity and peer relations in adolescents,
specifically testing the hypotheses that obese adolescents are more frequent
victims of peer aggression and are less likely to develop romantic relationships.
Obesity Study - Methods
Measures of overt and relational victimization, as well as dating status
and satisfaction, were collected for a group of 416 ninth- through twelfth-grade
students (51.7 percent girls). Body mass index was computed for each teen
based on self-reported height and weight data.
Obesity Study - Results
Results revealed that obese boys reported more overt victimization and
obese girls reported more relational victimization compared with their
average-weight peers. Obese girls were also less likely to date than their
peers. However, both obese boys and girls reported being more dissatisfied
with their dating status compared with average-weight peers.
Obesity Study - Issues
The results suggest that obese adolescents are at greater risk for mistreatment
by peers and may have fewer opportunities to develop intimate romantic
relationships; this may contribute to the psychological and health difficulties
frequently associated with obesity.
Source: Department of Psychology, Yale
University. 2003
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