Writing on eating, body image, and change
Essays
Clinically grounded essays about experiences that can be hard to put into words.
New writing lands here and on Substack.
Food is not the enemy…?
On loving food, treating eating disorders, and why this newsletter exists.
When body image becomes a full-time mental task
Why body image distress can become so consuming, and how to approach it with more compassion and clarity.
Why being hard on yourself can feel productive
The protective logic of self-criticism, and what it costs over time.
Selected research
My graduate research examined weight stigma: where it comes from, what it costs, and what might help reduce it.
Cognitive dissonance for weight stigma reduction: The development and effect of a counter-attitudinal advocacy intervention
Developed and tested an intervention rooted in cognitive dissonance theory for reducing stigma toward people living in larger bodies.
The effect of a food addiction explanatory model of eating behaviours on weight-based stigma: An experimental investigation
An experiment with 757 participants testing whether framing eating behaviours as a food addiction shifts weight stigma and beliefs about how controllable weight is.
Publications
- 2025
- Montemarano, V., Firasta, L., Deska, J., & Cassin, S. E. Cognitive dissonance for weight stigma reduction: The development and effect of a counter-attitudinal advocacy intervention. Clinical Obesity, 15(5), e70024. doi.org/10.1111/cob.70024
- 2024
- Cassin, S. E., Montemarano, V., & Santiago, V. A. Psychosocial interventions for food addiction. In A. N. Gearhardt, K. D. Brownell, M. S. Gold, & M. N. Potenza (Eds.), Food and Addiction: A Comprehensive Handbook (2nd ed., pp. 408–414). Oxford University Press. Book chapter
- 2021
- Montemarano, V., & Cassin, S. E. The effect of a food addiction explanatory model of eating behaviours on weight-based stigma: An experimental investigation. Eating Behaviors, 41, 101507. doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2021.101507
- 2021
- Starick, E., Montemarano, V., & Cassin, S. E. Coping during COVID-19: The impact of cognitive appraisal on problem orientation, coping behaviors, body image, and perceptions of eating behaviors and physical activity during the pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(21), 11305. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111305
- 2020
- Cassin, S. E., Sijercic, I., & Montemarano, V. Psychosocial interventions for food addiction: A systematic review. Current Addiction Reports, 7, 9–19. doi.org/10.1007/s40429-020-00295-y
- 2020
- Lambert, C. E., Troister, T., Ramadan, Z., Montemarano, V., Fekken, G. C., & Holden, R. R. Psychache predicts suicide attempter status change in students starting university. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 50(3), 668–678. doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12624
- 2018
- Montemarano, V., Troister, T., Lambert, C. E., & Holden, R. R. A four-year longitudinal study examining psychache and suicide ideation in elevated-risk undergraduates: A test of Shneidman’s model of suicidal behavior. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 74(10), 1820–1832. doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22639
- 2018
- Mac Neil, B. A., Leung, P., & Montemarano, V. Exposure with response prevention (ERP) for body dissatisfaction in a group therapy format: An exploratory study. Eating and Weight Disorders, 23(2), 225–232. doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0340-2