The pain of weight-related stigma among women with overweight or obesity.

Pain is prevalent among individuals with overweight or obesity but few studies have examined the mechanism linking pain with excess body weight. Because there is evidence that social and physical pain may be processed through similar physiological mechanisms, weight-stigma may potentiate the experience of physical pain through shared neuroanatomical pathways. This study evaluated the relationship between perceived weight stigma and self-reported bodily pain in a sample of overweight and obese adult women. Sixty-one women with a body mass index (BMI) between 25-35 completed self-report questionnaires assessing perceived stigma, internalized weight stigma, and self-reported pain. Height and weight were measured and participants completed a demographic and health history questionnaire. Hierarchical regression analyses were utilized to predict self-reported pain from perceived stigma, adjusting for demographic variables associated with self-reported pain as well as pain-related conditions. Perceived stigma was associated with pain F(6, 54)=6.10, p<.001) as was internalized stigma. Perceived stigma mediated the relationship between BMI and bodily pain among individuals with a BMI in the overweight range but not among individuals with a BMI in the obese range. Weight-related stigma among women with overweight or obesity appears to be associated with greater experience of physical pain. These results underscore the need to evaluate multiple mechanisms that might explain the relationship between bodily pain and body weight and to determine how the relationship may vary across different subgroups of individuals.