Christina Gaggiano

Background

Christina (she/her) is a third-year clinical psychology doctoral student in Dr. Braden's lab. She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the first two years of her undergraduate education, then transferred to North Central college in her hometown of Naperville, Illinois. There, Christina received her Bachelor of Science in psychology in 2023 and began BGSU's clinical psychology doctoral program later that year. Christina defended her master's thesis entitled "Body Appreciation, Emotion Regulation, and Loss of Control Eating in Pre-Surgical Bariatric Candidates" and received her Master of Arts in clinical psychology from BGSU in 2025. 

Broadly, Christina is interested in the development and maintenance of body image concerns and disordered eating behaviors across the lifespan. Much of Christina's research has focused on experienced and internalized weight stigma, intuitive eating, disordered eating behaviors, and body image, particularly in underrepresented populations in the eating disorders literature (e.g., bariatric patients, non-Western, LBGTQ+). Currently, Christina is launching a qualitative study aimed at understanding the experiences of those with binge eating, obesity, and a desire to manage their weight. The aim of this study is to understand how past weight loss attempts may be connected to binge eating and ultimately inform interventions for both binge eating and obesity. With this work, Christina aims to bridge the gap between the eating disorders and obesity fields. Alongside research, Christina is a student clinician currently completing her first externship at a primary care clinic and weight management clinic through Mercy Health. 

In her free time Christina loves to play video games, cook, and volunteer at the local humane society. 

Peer Reviewed Publications

Gaggiano, C. M., Wang, S., Barnhart, W. R., Ji, F., & He, J. (2025). Explaining the associations between adverse childhood experiences and body dissatisfaction through the lens of appearance stigma. Body Image, 55, 101993.

Kalantzis, M. A., Maitland, D. M., Yannon, M., Gaggiano, C., He, J., Barrita, A., ... & O'Brien, W. H. (2025). Weight-based discrimination and cortisol output: A systematic review. Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology, 22, 100290.

Cui, T., Xu, Y., Barnhart, W. R., Gaggiano, C. M., Tong, K. K., & He, J. (2025). Testing the acceptance model of intuitive eating for explaining intuitive eating dimensions and sex differences in Chinese adults. Appetite, 108280.

Wang, S., Barnhart, W. R., Li, Y., Gaggiano, C. M., Jiang, Z., Wu, S., ... & He, J. (2025). Validation of the muscularity bias internalization scale in Chinese transgender and gender-diverse adults. Body Image, 52, 101857.

Barnhart, W. R., Xiao, Y., Li, Y., Gaggiano, C., Jiang, Z., Wu, S., ... & He, J. (2024). Beyond age, bmi, gender identity, and gender minority stress, weight bias internalization is uniquely associated with more eating and body image disturbances and poor physical and mental health in chinese gender‐diverse adults. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 57(11), 2246-2259.

Barnhart, W. R., Kalantzis, M., Gaggiano, C., & Braden, A. L. (2024). The relation between questionnaire-measured self-reported emotional eating and disordered eating behaviors: A meta-analysis of nearly three decades of research. Appetite, 198, 107343.

Cheng, L., Xu, Y., Barnhart, W. R., Gaggiano, C. M., Nagata, J. M., & He, J. (2024). Muscularity bias internalization moderates the associations of muscularity dissatisfaction with muscularity-oriented disordered eating and psychosocial well-being in men but not women. Body Image, 51, 101806.

Selected Conference Presentations

*Presenting Author 

Wang, Z.*, Cheng, C., Barnhart, W.R., Gaggiano, C.M., Nagata, J.M., Liang, G., He, J. (2026) Exercise Dependence and Eating Disorder Symptomatology in Adult Women: A Network Perspective. Submitted to be presented at the International Conference on Eating Disorders in the Netherlands.

Bruemmer, K.*, Yannon, M., Gaggiano, C., Meyer, E., & Braden, A. (2025) Impact of Weight Discrimination and Internalization on Eating behaviors and Quality of Life for Youth and Young Adults. Submitted to be presented at The Society of Pediatric Psychology.

Gaggiano, C.*, Meschino, K., & Braden, A. (2025, November) Childhood Restriction: Links to Binge and Emotional Eating in Pre-Surgical Bariatric Patients. Presented at the Obesity Society Obesity Week Conference in Atlanta, GA, USA.

Gaggiano, C.*, Braden, A., & Meschino, K. (2025, November) Body Appreciation is Associated with Less Loss of Control Eating in Pre-Surgical Bariatric Patients. Presented at the Obesity Society Obesity Week Conference in Atlanta, GA, USA.

Meschino, K.*., Braden, A., & Gaggiano, C. (2025, November) Impact of Age and Disordered Eating Risk Factors on Body Appreciation in a Bariatric Surgery Sample. Presented at the Obesity Society Obesity Week Conference in Atlanta, GA, USA.

Braden, A.*, Meschino, K., Gaggiano, C., Kalantzis, M., Urbanczyk, E. (2025, November) Emotional Eating Types Among Bariatric Surgery Candidates. Presented at the Obesity Society Obesity Week Conference in Atlanta, GA, USA.