ArticleBMC psychology2026
Understanding medical trainees' anti-fat dislike: roles of observed weight stigma, body image disturbance, and controllability beliefs.
Article in BMC psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundStudies have demonstrated that medical students' anti-fat prejudice increases over the course of training, although the mechanisms through which these prejudicial attitudes are heightened are not well understood. The present study aims to empirically examine a theoretical model that posits that the observation of weight stigma in the medical training context drives anti-fat dislike via its effects on trainees' body image and subsequent activation of weight-based stereotypes (i.e., controllability beliefs).
methodsData were collected from the Medical Student Cognitive Habits and Change Evaluation Study (CHANGES), a national longitudinal study conducted between 2010 and 2017. Medical students from 49 allopathic U.S. medical schools were surveyed at year 4 of medical school (MS4; N = 3,976), year 2 of residency (PGY2; N = 3,579), and year 3 of residency (PGY3; N = 3,057). A serial parallel mediation analysis using structural equation modeling was used to evaluate our model.
resultsOur model was largely supported; observations of weight stigma during medical school were directly and indirectly associated with greater anti-fat dislike at PGY3 via fear of weight gain and controllability beliefs about weight.
conclusionsAnti-fat prejudice reduction interventions in the medical training environment should (1) emphasize the importance of, and increase adherence to, positive attitudinal role modeling among faculty and residents, (2) promote body self-acceptance among trainees, and (3) provide education around the complex interplay of genetic and environmental contributors to combat blame-based stereotypes surrounding weight.
methodsData were collected from the Medical Student Cognitive Habits and Change Evaluation Study (CHANGES), a national longitudinal study conducted between 2010 and 2017. Medical students from 49 allopathic U.S. medical schools were surveyed at year 4 of medical school (MS4; N = 3,976), year 2 of residency (PGY2; N = 3,579), and year 3 of residency (PGY3; N = 3,057). A serial parallel mediation analysis using structural equation modeling was used to evaluate our model.
resultsOur model was largely supported; observations of weight stigma during medical school were directly and indirectly associated with greater anti-fat dislike at PGY3 via fear of weight gain and controllability beliefs about weight.
conclusionsAnti-fat prejudice reduction interventions in the medical training environment should 1) emphasize the importance of, and increase adherence to, positive attitudinal role modeling among faculty and residents, 2) promote body self-acceptance among trainees, and 3) provide education around the complex interplay of genetic and environmental contributors to combat blame-based stereotypes surrounding weight.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.