Psychosocial Burden, Multi-System Somatic Symptom Severity, and Weight-Related Stigma in Late Adolescents and Young Adults: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Romania
Raluca Maior, Hajnal Finta, Halit Tanju Besler, Elena Mardale, Simona Toncean, Vladimir Bacarea · 2026
Read Psychosocial Burden, Multi-System Somatic Symptom Severity, and Weight-Related Stigma in Late Adolescents and Young Adults: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Romania by Raluca Maior, Hajnal Finta, Halit Tanju Besler, Elena Mardale, Simona Toncean, Vladimir Bacarea (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13301597.txt.
Description
Raluca Maior and co-authors survey stress, body symptoms, and weight stigma among teenagers and young adults in a 2026 cross sectional study. The sample held 117 participants aged sixteen to twenty, nearly ninety percent female, recruited in Târgu Mureș in June 2025. Questionnaires measured perceived stress, symptom severity across body systems, and weight related psychosocial burden, set against body mass index.
Young women reported heavier symptom loads than young men, a median score of twenty-one against three. Stress tracked positively with neurological, cardiovascular, digestive, and total symptoms. Body mass did not predict symptom severity, yet it correlated with experienced weight stigma. Emotional fallout ignored weight categories: about sixty-one percent felt guilt around food and sixty percent reported dented self confidence, while only six percent had consulted a mental health professional. The authors call for stress management, nutrition counseling, and body image support aimed at all weight groups.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Raluca Maior, Hajnal Finta, Halit Tanju Besler, Elena Mardale, Simona Toncean, Vladimir Bacarea |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 50016 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |