Content area
Abstract
This study examined whether or not and to what extent body size, and body size in relation to ethnicity, played a role in Marriage and Family Therapists' clinical assessment of a randomly assigned client. Participants (LMFTs and LMFT-As) completed quantitative surveys and answered a free response qualitative question, all developed to assess differences in the MFTs' clinical assessment of the hypothetical client based on differing body types and ethnicities. After controlling for demographic covariates and the potential for skewed data due to unequal groups of participants, the quantitative data indicated a statistically significant difference in MFTs' clinical assessments, with assessing average body type, white females more negatively. Pearson correlations found no significant relationships between MFTs' scores on subscales of the Antifat Attitudes Questionnaire and viewing body types and ethnicities that were different. The qualitative data indicated that MFTs held significantly different beliefs and biases towards clients with fat body types and different ethnicities than average body type white female clients.
