Family Support and Family Negativity as Mediators of the Relation between Acculturation and Postpartum Weight in Low-Income Mexican-Origin Women

Mediating effect of family support on the relationship between acculturation and loneliness among the migrant elderly following children in Jinan, China

The total number of migrant elderly following children (MEFC) has gradually increased along with population aging and urbanization in recent decades in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating effect of family support on the relationship between acculturation and loneliness among the MEFC in Jinan, China. A total of 656 MEFC were selected by multistage cluster random sampling. Loneliness was measured using the short-form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8), while acculturation and family support were assessed using a self-designed questionnaire. Descriptive analysis, univariate analysis, and the structural equation model (SEM) were conducted to illustrate the relationship between the above indicators and loneliness. The average ULS-8 score of the MEFC was 12.82 ± 4.05 in this study. Acculturation of the MEFC exerted a negatively direct effect on loneliness and a positively direct effect on family support simultaneously, while family support exerted a negatively direct effect on loneliness. Family support partially mediated the relationship between acculturation and loneliness [95% CI: -0.079 to 0.013, p < 0.001], while the mediating effect of family support accounted for 14.0% of the total effect. The average ULS-8 score of 12.82 ± 4.05 implied a low level of loneliness in the MEFC in Jinan, China. Acculturation was found to be correlated with loneliness, while the mediating role of family support between acculturation and loneliness was established. Policy recommendations were provided to reduce loneliness and improve the acculturation and family support of the MEFC according to the findings above.

The WOMBS Framework: A review and new theoretical model for investigating pregnancy-related weight stigma and its intergenerational implications

As the growing weight stigma literature has developed, one critically relevant and vulnerable population has received little consideration-pregnant and postpartum women. Because weight fluctuations are inherent to this life phase, and rates of prepregnancy overweight and obesity are already high, this gap is problematic. More recently, however, there has been a rising interest in pregnancy-related weight stigma and its consequences. This paper therefore sought to (a) review the emerging research on pregnancy-related weight stigma phenomenology and (b) integrate this existing evidence to present a novel theoretical framework for studying pregnancy-related weight stigma. The Weight gain, Obesity, Maternal-child Biobehavioral pathways, and Stigma (WOMBS) Framework proposes psychophysiological mechanisms linking pregnancy-related weight stigmatization to increased risk of weight gain and, in turn, downstream childhood obesity risk. This WOMBS Framework highlights pregnant and postpartum women as a theoretically unique at-risk population for whom this social stigma engages maternal physiology and transfers obesity risk to the child via social and physiological mechanisms. The WOMBS Framework provides a novel and useful tool to guide the emerging pregnancy-related weight stigma research and, ultimately, support stigma-reduction efforts in this critical context.