Ostracism, cortisol reactivity, and motivation for high-calorie food in children and adolescents with obesity
Authors' conclusion
Ostracism-induced reduction of motivation for food suggests that affiliative behaviors like increasing compliance regarding eating behaviors may play a role in youths with obesity with BMI ≥97th percentile in the context of social stress. Future research should explore the broader social context, including family and friends, to better understand the dynamics between social stress, physiological reactivity, and self-regulatory behaviors in treating obesity.
Study context
- Population
- Children and adolescents with obesity (ICD-10: E66), BMI ≥97th percentile; mean age 13.37 years, 46% female
- Participants
- 41 children
- Comparison
- Virtual Reality (VR)-based social exclusion vs inclusion
- Primary endpoint
- Motivation for high-calorie food
Methodological detailsbetween-subject design, VR-Cyberball paradigm, Not preregistered
- Between-subject design
- VR-Cyberball paradigm
- Not preregistered
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
- Ostracized participants showed heightened self-regulation of motivation for high-calorie food, selecting fewer grams of sweets after social exclusion
Further findings
Salivary cortisol response
- Social exclusion led to a blunted salivary cortisol response
Sympathetic nervous system (heart rate, heart rate variability)
- No effects of social exclusion on the sympathetic nervous system
Perceived threat to fundamental social needs
- Social exclusion associated with increased perceived threat to fundamental social needs
Prosocial (helping) behavior · post-exclusion
- Ostracism tended to increase helping behavior; not significant
Self-reported urge to eat and stress · during the experiment
- No significant effect
Original publication
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