Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research

Nonsuicidal self-injury and disordered eating: Differences in acquired capability and suicide attempt severity

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and eating disorders are both strongly related to suicide behaviors, and both can be conceptualized as painful and provocative events that associate with acquired capability for suicide. Individuals who self-injure report greater acquired capability than those who do not engage in these behaviors, but results are mixed in eating disorder samples. Given that NSSI and disordered eating (DE) commonly co-occur, it is important to examine how acquired capability for suicide and suicide attempt severity may differ between individuals who engage in either, both, or neither of these behaviors. It was expected that individuals with both NSSI and DE would report the greatest acquired capability, assessed by fearlessness about death and fear about suicide, and suicide attempt severity, compared to NSSI only, DE only, and controls. In a sample of 1179 undergraduates, results indicated no differences on fearlessness about death, but the NSSI + DE group reported the lowest scores on fear of suicide and greatest suicide attempt severity compared to the other groups. Differences between fearlessness about death and fear about suicide are discussed, as well as the possible additive effect of engaging in both direct (NSSI) and indirect (DE) self-harm on fear about suicide and suicide risk