Psychologists' judgments of preadolescent clients: Gender and weight comparisons

Salient patient characteristics, including weight and gender, have been shown to significantly influence psychologists' clinical judgments of their adult clients. This study aimed to expand on prior investigations by exploring whether psychologists' judgments of preadolescent clients reveal similar weight-based biases. A randomized sample of 167 doctoral-level psychologists was recruited via postal mail. Participants reviewed a photograph and clinical vignette from one of 4 conditions - average-weight boy (AB), overweight boy (OB), average-weight girl (AG), or overweight girl (OG) - then answered a series of questions, including provisional diagnosis, prognosis, treatment recommendations and goals, and demographic information. It was hypothesized that (1) overweight targets would be judged more negatively than average-weight targets; (2) the OG target group would receive more negative evaluations than the OB, AG, and AB target groups; and (3) respondent characteristics would influence clinical judgments. Results showed that average-weight targets were more likely to receive a Mood Disorder or Impulse Control Disorder Diagnosis. Treatment goals to "facilitate weight loss" and "improve body image" were more strongly endorsed for overweight targets than average-weight targets. Target weight did not significantly influence psychologists' clinical judgments on most dimensions examined. Clinician variables, including gender, self-reported BMI, hours worked per week, and percent of client base under 18 years old, were found to interact significantly with clinical judgments based on weight.