Papers of the Week

Elevated depressive symptoms are observed in a significant number of youth with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and have been linked to illness stigma and social isolation. Body image dissatisfaction is an understudied variable in the pediatric IBD literature that may be related to both stigma and social difficulties. It is suspected that, due to the stigmatizing nature of IBD, some youth may feel self-conscious about their body image, which contributes to decreased feelings of social belongingness and ultimately depressive symptoms. The current study tested an illness stigma→ body image dissatisfaction→ thwarted belongingness→ depressive symptoms serial mediation model, in which IBD stigma was hypothesized to indirectly influence youth depressive symptoms through the sequential effects of stigma on body image dissatisfaction and thwarted social belongingness.