ACU Researcher

Associate Professor Xochitl De la Piedad Garcia

Course Coordinator: Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours)
SBHS

Areas of expertise: weight stigma; eating behaviour; research methods and statistics

Phone: 03.9953.3116

Email: xochitl.delapiedadgarcia@acu.edu.au

Location: ACU Melbourne Campus

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: HDR Supervisor (Full)

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9319-8671

ORCID link: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9319-8671

I completed my licenciatura (undergraduate and honours) in Psychology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. I then went on to complete a PhD in Experimental Psychology at SUNY Stony Brook (now Stony Brook University), where I worked in behavioural models of self-control under the supervision of Howie Rachlin. I moved to Australia in 2004 and joined ACU in late 2007. At ACU I have developed and taught statistics subjects for first, third and fourth year. I also developed and taught the Learning and Behaviour subject and contributed to teaching Cognitive Psychology. I have been the Honours Course Coordinator since 2009.

Since joining ACU, I have collaborated with colleagues in work on many research areas (prospective memory, cyberbullying, social psychology). Over the last 7 years, my work has focused on research in eating behaviour, disordered eating and weight stigma. I am particularly interested in the way in which experiences of weight stigma affect the lives of people with higher weight, particularly in relation to access to healthcare. I am a member of the Stigma Expert Group of the Obesity Collective

Research supervision is my favourite part of my job, as it sits at the intersection of teaching and research. I have supervised over 30 honours, 10 Masters in Psychology, and 9 PhD students. My passion for and work in research supervision was recognised though the Faculty of Health Sciences Employee Values Award for Student Research Supervision in December of 2021.

Select publications

2024

Anderson, J. R., de la Piedad Garcia, X., Falomir-Pichastor, J. M., & Kaufmann, L. M. (2024). Disentangling Gender-Based Attitudes from Sexuality-Based Attitude: The Person-Based Approach to Measuring Implicit Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbian Women. Journal of Homosexuality, 71(10), 2366-2399. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2023.2233657

Bidstrup, H., Brennan, L., Kaufmann, L., Meadows, A., & de la Piedad Garcia, X. (2024). A systematic review of ecological momentary assessment studies on weight stigma and a call for a large-scale collaboration [Review]. Obesity Reviews, 25(3), Article e13676. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13676

Cheers, C., Pennay, A., de la Piedad Garcia, X., & Callinan, S. (2024a). Development and Validation of the Cheers Attitudes towards Non-drinkers Scale (CANS) [Article]. Journal of Health Psychology, 29(10), 1101-1114. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053231220519

Cheers, C., Pennay, A., De la Piedad Garcia, X., & Callinan, S. (2024b). Drinker's own drinking, experience of alcohol-related harms, and concern for drinking predict drinker's attitudes towards non-drinkers. Psychol Health, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2024.2406498

Ferguson, R., Kaufmann, L., Brown, A., & de la Piedad Garcia, X. (2024). Influences of past moral behavior on future behavior: A review of sequential moral behavior studies using meta-analytic techniques. Psychol Bull, 150(6), 694-726. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000441

Hill, B., de la Piedad Garcia, X., Rathbone, J. A., Malik, Z., Holmes-Truscott, E., Lawrence, B. J., Kite, J., Cooper, K., Broady, T. R., & Dixon, J. B. (2024). Supporting healthcare professionals to reduce weight stigma. Aust J Gen Pract, 53(9), 682-685. https://doi.org/10.31128/AJGP-07-23-6906

Hinton, J. D. X., Koc, Y., de la Piedad Garcia, X., Kaufmann, L. M., & Anderson, J. R. (2024). Chronic and contextual identity salience: Assessing dual-dimensional salience with the Identity Salience Questionnaire (ISQ) [Article]. Self and Identity. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2024.2379841

White, L. K., Valos, N., de la Piedad Garcia, X., & Willis, M. L. (2024). Machiavellianism and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis [Review]. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380241270027

2023

Say, A., de la Piedad Garcia, X., & Mallan, K. M. (2023). The correlation between different operationalisations of parental restrictive feeding practices and children's eating behaviours: Systematic review and meta-analyses [Review]. Appetite, 180, Article 106320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2022.106320

2022

Bidstrup, H., Brennan, L., Kaufmann, L., & de la Piedad Garcia, X. (2022). Internalised weight stigma as a mediator of the relationship between experienced/perceived weight stigma and biopsychosocial outcomes: a systematic review. Int J Obes (Lond, 46(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-021-00982-4

Bidstrup, H., Brennan, L., Hindle, A., Kaufmann, L., & de la Piedad Garcia, X. (2022). Internalised Weight Stigma Mediates Relationships Between Perceived Weight Stigma and Psychosocial Correlates in Individuals Seeking Bariatric Surgery: a Cross-sectional Study. Obesity Surgery, 32(11), 3675-3686. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-022-06245-z

Hinton, J. D. X., de la Piedad Garcia, X., Kaufmann, L. M., Koc, Y., & Anderson, J. R. (2022). A Systematic and Meta-Analytic Review of Identity Centrality among LGBTQ Groups: An Assessment of Psychosocial Correlates [Review]. Journal of Sex Research, 59(5), 568-586. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2021.1967849

Lawrence, B. J., de la Piedad Garcia, X., Kite, J., Hill, B., Cooper, K., Flint, S. W., & Dixon, J. B. (2022). Weight stigma in Australia: a public health call to action. Public Health Res Pract, 32(3). https://doi.org/10.17061/phrp3232224

Murphy, J. M., Bennett, J. M., de la Piedad Garcia, X., & Willis, M. L. (2022). Emotion Recognition and Traumatic Brain Injury: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis [Review]. Neuropsychology Review, 32(3), 520-536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-021-09510-7

Selected Pre 2021

Hindle, A., De la Piedad Garcia, X., Hayden, M., O'Brien, P. E., & Brennan, L. (2020). Pre-operative Restraint and Post-operative Hunger, Disinhibition and Emotional Eating Predict Weight Loss at 2 Years Post-laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding [Article]. Obesity Surgery, 30(4), 1347-1359. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-019-04274-9

Hindle, A., de la Piedad Garcia, X., & Brennan, L. (2017). Early post-operative psychosocial and weight predictors of later outcome in bariatric surgery: a systematic literature review. Obesity Reviews, 18(3), 317-334. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12496

Linardon, J., de la Piedad Garcia, X., & Brennan, L. (2017). Predictors, Moderators, and Mediators of Treatment Outcome Following Manualised Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy for Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review. European Eating Disorders Review, 25(1), 3-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2492

Linardon, J., Brennan, L., & de la Piedad Garcia, X. (2016). Rapid response to eating disorder treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis [Review]. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 49(10), 905-919. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22595

Linardon, J., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M., de la Piedad Garcia, X., Messer, M., & Brennan, L. (2019). Do body checking and avoidance behaviours explain variance in disordered eating beyond attitudinal measures of body image? Eating Behaviors, 32, 7-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2018.11.001

Linardon, J., Wade, T., de la Piedad Garcia, X., & Brennan, L. (2017a). Psychotherapy for bulimia nervosa on symptoms of depression: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 50(10), 1124-1136. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22763

Linardon, J., Wade, T. D., De La Piedad Garcia, X., & Brennan, L. (2017b). The efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy for eating disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 85(11), 1080-1094. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000245

Mallan, K. M., Fildes, A., de la Piedad Garcia, X., Drzezdzon, J., Sampson, M., & Llewellyn, C. (2017). Appetitive traits associated with higher and lower body mass index: Evaluating the validity of the adult eating behaviour questionnaire in an Australian sample. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14(1), Article 130. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0587-7

Preiss, K., Clarke, D., O'Brien, P., de la Piedad Garcia, X., Hindle, A., & Brennan, L. (2018). Psychosocial Predictors of Change in Depressive Symptoms Following Gastric Banding Surgery [Article]. Obesity Surgery, 28(6), 1578-1586. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-017-3055-1

Editorial roles

• Reviewer

• Appetite

• Current Psychology

• Frontiers in Public Health

• International Journal of Obesity

• Journal of Eating Disorders

• Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

• Obesity Reviews

• Stigma and Health