title: Malleability of weight-biased attitudes and beliefs: a meta-analysis of weight bias reduction interventions.
abstract: Weight bias exists across many important life domains, necessitating interventions designed to reduce weight-biased attitudes and beliefs. Though the effectiveness of weight bias interventions has been questioned, to our knowledge no meta-analysis of these interventions has been conducted. This meta-analysis evaluated the impact of weight bias interventions on weight-biased attitudes and beliefs and explored potential moderators. Interventions were eligible if they used an adult sample and a validated measure of weight-biased attitudes, which resulted in the inclusion of 30 studies represented in 29 articles. A random effects approach using inverse weights resulted in a mean effect size estimate of g=-0.33 (lower scores indicate less weight bias) for both attitudes and beliefs. Intervention type, publication type, and population type were not significant moderators but demonstrated noteworthy trends. Results reveal a small, positive effect of weight bias interventions on weight-biased attitudes and beliefs and provide useful information for future interventions.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States. Electronic address: mrl1@mail.usf.edu.
authors: Morgan
authors: M
authors: Lee
authors: Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States. Electronic address: rata@mail.usf.edu.
authors: Rheanna N
authors: RN
authors: Ata
authors: Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States. Electronic address: mbrannick@usf.edu.
authors: Michael T
authors: MT
authors: Brannick
mesh_terms: D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D004645:Empathy; D006801:Humans; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology*; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D063508:Social Discrimination / Q000523:psychology*; D013851:Thinness / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Anti-fat attitudes; Anti-fat beliefs; Interventions; Meta-analysis; Weight bias