Description:

Tiwaloluwa A. Ajibewa, M.S.
Ph.D. Candidate, School of Kinesiology
University of Michigan

"A psychobiobehavioral expansion of the COBWEBS model in adolescents with overweight/obesity."

The Cyclic Obesity/Weight-Based Stigma (COBWEBS; Tomiyama, 2014) model describes how psychological stress from obesity/weight-based stigma leads to a deleterious pattern of weight gain. Though the COBWEBS model significantly advances our understanding of the impact of the psychological stressor of obesity/weight-based stigma, gaps relating to physical activity, metabolic risk factors, and the psychological constructs underlying physical activity and eating behavior remain. In this presentation I present findings from my dissertation that examine cross- sectional associations between stress, health behaviors (eating and physical activity), psychological constructs that may precede health behaviors, and metabolic risk among adolescents with overweight/obesity. Study results help to clarify the link between stress and increased weight gain, while also identifying specific factors that may exacerbate or ameliorate the effects of stress on both health behavior and metabolic risk. The implications of this work will shed light on interventional avenues where researchers can interrupt the deleterious cycle of stress and weight gain among youth.