Body Image Concerns and Fat Talk as Predictors of Anxiety and Symptoms of Eating Disorders in Pregnancy

Trudnoća je razdoblje intenzivnih fizičkih, fizioloških i psihosocijalnih promjena. Kod nekih trudnica debljanje i promjene oblika tijela u trudnoći mogu rezultirati padom zadovoljstva slikom tijela. Cilj ovog istraživanja jest ispitati negativni efekt kojeg zabrinutost slikom tijela i sociokulturni stavovi prema izgledu imaju na doživljeni distres u trudnoći, u obliku anksioznosti vezane uz trudnoću i simptoma poremećaja hranjenja, te ujedno ispitati postojanje medijacijskog efekta ponižavajućeg govora o debljini i izgledu u tom odnosu. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 340 trudnica, prosječne dobi 29.09 godina. Prosječna gestacija iznosila je 28.39 tjedana, pri čemu je najviše trudnica bilo u trećem tromjesečju trudnoće (60.9%). Istraživanje je provedeno online, a ispitanice su, osim demografskih podataka, ispunile upitnike za procjenu zabrinutosti slikom tijela u trudnoći, sociokulturnih stavova o tjelesnom izgledu, učestalosti ponižavajućeg govora o debljini i izgledu, ponašanja vezanih uz poremećaje hranjenja te zabrinutosti u trudnoći. Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju da su zabrinutost slikom tijela u trudnoći i sociokulturni stavovi prema izgledu značajno pozitivno povezani s ponižavajućim govorom o debljini i izgledu, anksioznošću u trudnoći i simptomima poremećaja hranjenja u trudnoći. Trudnice koje izjavljuju o većoj zabrinutosti slikom tijela doživljavaju veću anksioznost vezanu uz trudnoću i više simptoma poremećaja hranjenja, a dio tog odnosa može se objasniti učestalijim sudjelovanjem u ponižavajućem govoru o debljini i izgledu. Konačno, trudnice koje više internaliziraju ideal vitkosti i doživljavaju veći pritisak na mršavost izjavljuju o većoj anksioznosti u trudnoći i brojnijim simptomima poremećaja hranjenja, a dio te izraženije anksioznosti i simptoma poremećaja hranjenja ostvaruje se putem učestalijeg korištenja ponižavajućeg govora o debljini i izgledu.
Pregnancy is a period of intense physical, physiological and psychosocial changes. For some pregnant women, weight gain and body shape changes during pregnancy can result in a decrease in body image satisfaction. The aim of this research is to examine the negative effect that body image concerns and sociocultural attitudes towards appearance have on experienced distress during pregnancy, in the form of anxiety related to pregnancy and symptoms of eating disorders, and at the same time to examine mediation effect of fat talk in this relationship. 340 pregnant women, average age 29.09 years, participated in the research. The average gestation was 28.39 weeks, with most pregnant women in the third trimester (60.9%). The research was conducted online and the respondents, in addition to demographic data, filled out questionnaires to assess concerns about body image during pregnancy, sociocultural attitudes about physical appearance, the frequency of fat talk, behaviors related to eating disorders, and concerns during pregnancy. The obtained results show that body image concerns during pregnancy and sociocultural attitudes towards appearance are significantly positively related to fat talk, pregnancy-related anxiety and eating disorder symptoms during pregnancy. Pregnant women who report greater body image concerns experience greater pregnancy-related anxiety and more eating disorder symptoms, and part of this relationship can be explained by more frequent participation in fat talk. Finally, pregnant women who internalize the thin ideal more and experience greater pressure to be thin report greater pregnancy-related anxiety and more numerous symptoms of eating disorders, and part of this more pronounced anxiety and symptoms of eating disorders is realized through more frequent use of fat talk.