Designing a Group Therapy Program for Coping with Childhood Weight Bias

Research indicates that the negative psychosocial consequences of childhood obesity may reflect the degree of weight bias and mistreatment affecting the child. Even though comprehensive practice models evolve over time, the intense distress of these children calls for more timely intervention. Using...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social work (New York) 2014-04, Vol.59 (2), p.141-147
Main Authors: Panzer, Barry M., Dhuper, Sarita
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adolescent
Adolescents
Adults
Bias
Bullying
Child
Child health services
Childhood
Children
Cognition
Coping
Emotional distress
Female
Group Therapy
Humans
Intervention
Male
Obese children
Obesity
Parents
Parents & parenting
Pediatric obesity
Pediatric Obesity - psychology
Perceptions
Prejudice
Psychological Distress
Psychotherapy, Group - methods
Research and Development
Research methodology
School age children
Social research
Social Work - methods
Stress, Psychological - prevention & control
Teasing
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Summary:Research indicates that the negative psychosocial consequences of childhood obesity may reflect the degree of weight bias and mistreatment affecting the child. Even though comprehensive practice models evolve over time, the intense distress of these children calls for more timely intervention. Using a modification of social research and development methodology, a short-term group therapy approach using cognitive and behavioral methods was designed. Questionnaires were developed to assess both the child's and the parents' perceptions of the frequency, circumstances, and responses to being teased. At the end of the program, all of the children and parents showed proficiency in describing and demonstrating the coping strategies in the curriculum. A two-year follow-up found that most of the children reported fewer episodes of teasing. This article demonstrates the use of intervention research methodology to rapidly design and implement a preliminary approach to help children with severe obesity cope with weight-related teasing. Although this program needs further empirical testing and refinement before it can be more widely deployed, it represents an important initiative in responding to the distress of children who are victimized because of obesity.
ISSN:0037-8046
1545-6846
DOI:10.1093/sw/swu003