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Research and Creative Works

I’m currently active in three related lines of research in collaboration with researchers from Spain, at the Universidad de Jaén, and Chile, at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. 

• Health-Related Stigmas. Health-related stigmas can exacerbate psychological distress, leading to decreased self-esteem, depression, and anxiety among affected individuals. These stigmas also contribute to barriers in seeking help and support, as individuals may fear judgment or rejection from others. Related to this area of research, we recently developed the Smoking Self-Stigma Questionnaire (SSSQ)¹ and are in the process of validating the Smoking Public Stigma Questionnaire (SPSQ), and a Spanish version of the SSSQ. I will soon embark on a three-month Fulbright Scholar Fellowship (Spring 2024), where I will be working with Chilean colleagues to develop an explicit measure of Adolescent Overweight Public Stigma. We have also made advances in this area of research by developing an online version of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP)², which we then adapted to assess implicit smoking stigma in smokers and non-smokers and will soon submit our findings for publication. Shortly, we’d like to adapt the IRAP to measure other health-related stigmas. 
• Body Image. Body image is key to the conformation of self-concept and self-esteem, particularly during adolescence and early adulthood. We are currently investigating the impact of online social-media behaviors on body image in men and women, focusing on Instagram and the interactions of users with Influencers and interest in body-positive and fitness content. We’re particularly interested in understanding whether and how the relationships between these phenomena might differ across genders, sexual orientation, and age. Related to this area, we are conducting experimental investigations that examine reactivity to images of people with different body types and how that reactivity might be potentiated or invited by individual differences, such as the individual’s tendency to compare themselves to others or their attitudes toward influencers. Examples of relatively recent publications in this area of research include a study investigating the differential effects of exposure to images of very thin female fashion models vs plus-size models.³ In A somewhat more recent publication we tested a conditional mediation model where thin-ideal awareness predicted body image dissatisfaction through Internalization of the thin ideal moderated by body-mass index and nationality (Argentine vs. Spanish).⁴
• Disordered Eating and Food Cravings. Food reward and overeating share psychological and neurobiological mechanisms with drug reward and drug abuse. Like drug cues in the addicted brain, food cues may elicit food cravings and trigger binge consumption episodes with caloric intake. We’ve recently conducted research to show that food can be classified along a continuum of addictiveness potential and that food addiction symptoms potentiate reactivity to both Ultra-Processed and Processed foods, but not minimally processed foods.⁵ 

RECENT PUBLICATIONS (*students/mentees; ^∳corresponding author)

1. Hernández-López, M., ^∳Cepeda-Benito, A., *Geist, T., Torres-Dotor, P., *Pomichter, E., & Rodríguez-Valverde, M. (2024). Validation of the Spanish version of the body image acceptance and action questionnaire (BI-AAQ-Spanish): Measurement invariance across cultures. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 32, 100755.
2. *Geist, T., *Goldberg, K., Burt, K., *Pomichter, E., ^∳Cepeda-Benito, A. (2023). Development and Validation of the Smoker Self-Stigma Questionnaire (SSSQ). Tobacco, Nicotine & Research, 25(7), 1283-1290.
3. *Geist, T., Plezia, S., Cepeda-Benito, A., et al. (2023). Online Administration of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure: The Web-IRAP. Psychol Rec
4. *Moreno-Domínguez, S., Servián-Franco, F., Reyes del Paso, G. A., ^∳Cepeda-Benito, A. (2019). Images of thin and plus-size models produce opposite effects on women’s body image, body dissatisfaction, and anxiety. Sex Roles, 80 (9-10), 607-616
5. *Moreno-Domínguez, S., Rusztein, G., *Geist, T. A., *Pomichter, E. E., & ^∳Cepeda-Benito, A. (2019). Body Mass Index and Nationality (Argentine vs Spanish) Moderate the Relationship between Internalization of the Thin Ideal and Body Dissatisfaction: A Conditional Mediation Model. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 582
6. Delgado-Rodríguez, R., Moreno-Padilla, M., Moreno-Domínguez, S., & ^∳Cepeda-Benito, A. (2023). Food addiction correlates with emotional and craving reactivity to industrially prepared (ultra-processed) and home-cooked (processed) foods but not unprocessed or minimally processed foods. Food Quality and Preference, 110, 104961.
7. *Ugarte-Pérez, C. A., Cruzat-Mandich, C., … Cepeda-Benito, A. (2023). Feasibility and Comparative Efficacy of Remotely Delivered Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT) and Psychoeducational Counseling during Covid-19 Confinement. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1285834
8. ^∳Cepeda-Benito, A., *Ugarte Pérez, C., Lizana-Calderón, P., & *Moreno-Domínguez, S. (2023). Food-cravings, body image and eating disorders: perspectives across cultures and genders. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1285834.
9. *Hernández-López, M., Cepeda-Benito, A., & Rodríguez-Valverde, M. (2021). Psychological Inflexibility and Mental Health Symptoms during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Spain: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 19, 42-49.
10. ^∳Cepeda-Benito, A., *Moreno-Domínguez, S. (2019). Beyond Eating and Body Image Disturbances: Cultural, Transcultural and Accultural Perspectives. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2601.
11. ^∳Cepeda-Benito, A. (2020). Nicotine effects, body weight concerns and smoking: A literature review. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 26(20), 2316-2326.