Dying is a natural part of life; however, death is often a fearful, frightening event. Dying in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges that magnify normative fears and may interfere with a healthy grieving process. To maintain a resilient spirit among those who are at risk of losing a loved one or who have lost a family member to COVID-19, it is important that they be provided with the necessary contextually and culturally appropriate skills and resources to facilitate healing in the face of hardship and uncertainty. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Negative body image is prevalent among mid- and late-life women. In younger women, negative body image is associated with reduced quality of life (QOL) when controlling for body mass index (BMI), and mediates the relationship between obesity and emotional wellbeing. Yet, much remains unknown about body image in older populations. In our sample of women aged 50–86 (N = 181), negative body image mediated the relationship between BMI and sleep, all four domains of QOL, negative affect, nutritious food consumption, and psychosocial impairment, but not enjoyment of physical activity. Findings suggest negative body image impacts the wellbeing of older women.

Background: Extensive support exists for objectification theory’s original aim of explaining patterns of women’s mental health risk through a sociocultural lens. One pathway in objectification theory proposes a mediational role of body shame in the relationship between self-objectification and eating disorder (ED) pathology. Robust past cross-sectional research supports this proposed pathway, but largely in non-Hispanic Caucasian, college-aged samples; this pathway has yet to be empirically demonstrated longitudinally. Given previously documented concerns regarding direct measurement of body shame, we tested two measures of body shame as mediators in both cross-sectional and longitudinal models in a diverse sample of adult women.Method: Utilizing snowball sampling via email, we recruited age and racially/ethnically diverse women predominantly within the United States. Participants completed online surveys assessing self-objectification (operationalized as body surveillance), body shame, and ED pathology at baseline, 3-months and 6-months.Results: Racial/ethnic minority (n = 139) and non-Hispanic Caucasian (n = 181) adult women completed the measures. Cross-sectional moderated mediation models indicated that racial/ethnic status did not moderate relationships, and that body shame significantly mediated the relation between body surveillance and ED pathology at each time point. The longitudinal model, analyzed using cross-lagged panel analyses, was nonsignificant, as body surveillance failed to predict future body shame when controlling for past body shame.Conclusions: Racial/ethnic status did not moderate relations at any time point. Cross-sectional findings replicated past research; the longitudinal model did not support a core mediation pathway linking self-objectification to ED pathology through body shame. Because self-objectification putatively develops earlier in life, future research also should examine these relations in younger diverse samples over a longer time period.

Emerging research suggests that body dissatisfaction (BD) is prevalent among midlife and older women (i.e., upwards of 70%). Cross-sectionally, BD is associated with myriad poor health and wellness outcomes (e.g., depression, disordered eating, bad nutrition) in midlife/older women. However, relatively few studies have examined the longitudinal relations between BD and health outcomes in this population. This preliminary study investigated the longitudinal associations of BD with wellbeing and health-related quality of life (QOL) among midlife/older adult women over one year. Participants (n = 86, women aged 40–72 years, M = 51.49, SD = 7.34, 86% white) completed self-report measures of BD, psychosocial impairment, health behaviors, and QOL at baseline (T1) and 12-month follow-up (T2). A series of multiple linear regression models included T1 BD as the predictor variable of health outcomes at T2, covarying for T1 BMI and age in all models. BD was associated with greater negative emotions and psychosocial impairment, less physical activity enjoyment, and poorer physical, psychological, and social QOL one year later. Findings suggest that BD is associated with negative consequences for women across the lifespan (ƒ² ranges = 0.06–0.60). Future research investigating BD as a unique, modifiable risk factor for health outcomes among diverse samples of midlife/older women is warranted. Targeting BD in interventions may improve health indices beyond eating disorders for this population.

Background: Emerging research indicates that binge eating (BE; consuming unusually large amounts of food in one siting while feeling a loss of control) is prevalent among older women. Yet, health correlates of BE in older adult populations are poorly understood. The original study aimed to investigate BE prevalence, frequency, and health correlates in a sample of older adult women. Based on results from this first study, we then sought to replicate findings in two additional samples of older adult women from separate studies. Method: Using self-reported frequencies of BE from three separate samples of older women with very different demographics, we compared BE prevalence, frequency, and health correlates among older women. Study 1 (N = 185) includes data collected online (86% White; 59% overweight/obese status). Study 2 (N = 64) was conducted in person at a local food pantry (65% Hispanic; 47% household income < $10,000/year). Study 3 (N = 100) comprises data collected online (72% White; 50% Masters/Doctoral Degree). Results: Per DSM-5 frequency criterion of BE at least weekly, we found prevalence rates ranging from 19 to 26% across the three samples. Correlates of BE frequency included elevated negative mood, worry, BMI, and less nutritious food consumption. Conclusions: Across three very different samples in terms of race/ethnicity, education, food security status, measurements, and sampling methodology, we found fairly consistent rates of self-reported BE at least weekly (19–26%). Results suggest that BE is related to negative health indices among older women and support the need for more research in this population.