Examining self-conscious emotions in post-bariatric surgery patients : Is shame predictive of psychological morbidity, impaired quality of life, body image disturbance and low self-esteem?

Obesity has more than doubled over the past three decades, and due to its association with physical and psychological morbidities, it is now one of the fastest growing health problems. Consequently, bariatric surgery has become more popular when all other treatment options have failed. This thesis sought to better understand the presence and relationships of psychosocial factors after bariatric surgery patients. Literature Review : Excess skin after massive weight loss is common in bariatric patients. The current review examined studies that quantitatively explored psychosocial outcomes after body contouring (reconstructive surgery). Ten studies were included and the findings were equivocal with some suggesting positive psychosocial outcomes and others implying a negative association. Research Report : The empirical paper examined the role of shame in post bariatric surgery patients. Shame has been frequently explored in eating disorders but it has not been examined in a bariatric surgery sample. This study aimed to explore the extent to which shame was present and predicted psychological morbidity, low self-esteem, impaired quality of life and body image disturbance in this population. Questionnaires were posted to 265 eligible participants, of which, 80 participants returned completed measures. The data were examined using descriptive, correlation and multiple regression analyses. The findings suggest that post bariatric surgery patients experienced higher levels of shame, anxiety and depression, lower self-esteem, impaired quality of life and problematic body image disturbance compared to the normal population. Shame also predicted the variance in psychological morbidity, self-esteem, quality of life and body image disturbance. Critical Appraisal : The critical appraisal is a reflective and personal account that discusses the research journey and some important issues relating to quantitative research.