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Resistance and empowerment against racism: A preregistered study of associations with body appreciation and body acceptance by others in racialised minority adults in the United Kingdom

Chan J, Craddock N, Swami V

Body Image, 2023 Sep;46:1-8.
PMID: 37149923 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.04.010

Research on body image and racism has largely focused on how individual experiences of racism are associated with detrimental body image outcomes. However, research has not yet examined how resistance and empowerment against racism (REAR) - a repertoire of proactive strategies aimed at preventing or challenging racism both at the individual and collective levels - shape positive body image outcomes. Here, 236 women and 233 men who identified as belonging to racialised minority groups in the United Kingdom completed the REAR Scale - which measures REAR along four dimensions - as well as measures of body appreciation and body acceptance by others. Correlational analyses indicated significant inter-correlations between nearly all REAR domains and body image-related variables in men, whereas relationships in women were largely non-significant. Linear model analyses indicated that greater leadership for resistance against racism was significantly associated with higher body appreciation in women and men. Greater interpersonal confrontation of racism was significantly associated with both body appreciation and body acceptance by others in men, but not in women. These results suggest that REAR may play a role in shaping body image-related outcomes in people of colour, but that these effects are also be shaped by the intersection of gender and race.
Social media, traditional media, and other body image influences and disordered eating and cosmetic procedures in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Hong Kong

Chua SN, Craddock N, Rodtanaporn W, Or F, Austin SB

Body Image, 2023 Jun;45:265-272.
PMID: 37011471 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.03.010

In this study, we investigated the association between perceived sociocultural influences and the 3-month prevalence of disordered weight-control behaviors and lifetime prevalence of cosmetic procedures in four Asian countries, and if these associations were modified by gender. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey in September 2020 among adults ages 18-91 years (N = 5294) in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. The 3-month prevalence of disordered weight control behaviors ranged from 25.2 % (Singapore) to 42.3 % (Malaysia), while the lifetime prevalence of cosmetic procedures ranged from 8.7 % (Singapore) to 21.3 % (Thailand). Participants who perceived their body image to be influenced by sociocultural factors were more likely to engage in disordered weight control behaviors (RRs ranged from 2.05 to 2.12) and have cosmetic procedures (RRs ranged from 2.91 to 3.89) compared to participants who perceived no sociocultural influence. Men who were influenced by traditional or social media were more likely to engage in disordered weight control behaviors and have cosmetic procedures than similarly influenced women. The high 3-month prevalence of disordered weight control behaviors and lifetime prevalence of cosmetic procedures in Asia is concerning. More research is needed to develop effective preventive interventions in Asia for men and women to promote a healthy body image.
Fulltext Genomewide association studies: history, rationale, and prospects for psychiatric disorders

Psychiatric GWAS Consortium Coordinating Committee, Cichon S, Craddock N, Daly M, Faraone SV, Gejman PV, et al.

Am J Psychiatry, 2009 May;166(5):540-56.
PMID: 19339359 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.08091354

OBJECTIVE: The authors conducted a review of the history and empirical basis of genomewide association studies (GWAS), the rationale for GWAS of psychiatric disorders, results to date, limitations, and plans for GWAS meta-analyses.
METHOD: A literature review was carried out, power and other issues discussed, and planned studies assessed.
RESULTS: Most of the genomic DNA sequence differences between any two people are common (frequency >5%) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Because of localized patterns of correlation (linkage disequilibrium), 500,000 to 1,000,000 of these SNPs can test the hypothesis that one or more common variants explain part of the genetic risk for a disease. GWAS technologies can also detect some of the copy number variants (deletions and duplications) in the genome. Systematic study of rare variants will require large-scale resequencing analyses. GWAS methods have detected a remarkable number of robust genetic associations for dozens of common diseases and traits, leading to new pathophysiological hypotheses, although only small proportions of genetic variance have been explained thus far and therapeutic applications will require substantial further effort. Study design issues, power, and limitations are discussed. For psychiatric disorders, there are initial significant findings for common SNPs and for rare copy number variants, and many other studies are in progress.
CONCLUSIONS: GWAS of large samples have detected associations of common SNPs and of rare copy number variants with psychiatric disorders. More findings are likely, since larger GWAS samples detect larger numbers of common susceptibility variants, with smaller effects. The Psychiatric GWAS Consortium is conducting GWAS meta-analyses for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Based on results for other diseases, larger samples will be required. The contribution of GWAS will depend on the true genetic architecture of each disorder.
The Sociostructural-Intersectional Body Image (SIBI) framework: Understanding the impact of white supremacy in body image research and practice

Landor AM, Ramseyer Winter VL, Thurston IB, Chan J, Craddock N, Ladd BA, et al.

Body Image, 2024 Mar;48:101674.
PMID: 38154289 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.101674

White supremacy and racial inequities have long pervaded psychological research, including body image scholarship and practice. The experiences of white, heterosexual, able-bodied, cisgender (predominantly college) women from wealthy, Westernized nations have been centered throughout body image research and practice, thereby perpetuating myths of invulnerability among racialized groups and casting white ideals and experiences as the standard by which marginalized bodies are compared. Body image is shaped by multiple axes of oppression that exist within systemic and structural systems, ultimately privileging certain bodies above others. In this position paper, we highlight how white supremacy has shaped body image research and practice. In doing so, we first review the history of body image research and explain how participant sampling, measurement, interpretive frameworks, and dissemination of research have upheld and reinforced white supremacy. Next, grounded in inclusivity and intersectionality, we advance the Sociostructural-Intersectional Body Image (SIBI) framework to more fully understand the body image experiences of those with racialized and minoritized bodies, while challenging and seeking to upend white supremacy in body image research and practice. We encourage other scholars to utilize the SIBI framework to better understand body inequities and the body image experiences of all people, in all bodies.
Fulltext Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Mullins N, Kang J, Campos AI, Coleman JRI, Edwards AC, Galfalvy H, et al.

Biol Psychiatry, 2022 Feb 01;91(3):313-327.
PMID: 34861974 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.05.029

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders.
METHODS: We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors.
RESULTS: Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.