Wesley Barnhart, PhD

Education

• PhD, Clinical Psychology, Bowling Green State University
• MA, Clinical Psychology, Bowling Green State University
• BS, Neuroscience, Ohio State University
• BA, Psychology, Ohio State University

Clinical Internship: Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Specialty Areas

Eating disorders research continues to be homogenous in representation, predominantly reflecting Skinny, White, Affluent Girls (SWAG) and populations from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) regions. Omitting or poorly representing patient diversity and multicultural perspectives translates to inappropriate and ineffective interventions for eating disorders, gaps in care that are especially felt by minoritized and underrepresented populations with known disparities in these mental health symptoms (e.g., LGBTQ+ community).

To this end, the EMBRACED (Elevating Minoritized Backgrounds in Research on Appearance Concerns and Eating Disorders) Lab will establish an empirical foundation for the inclusion of multicultural nuances (e.g., sexual minority, gender minority, and intraminority stress) in eating disorders evidence-based practice while also identifying high-risk subgroups for eating disorder symptoms to inform the development of personalized treatment targets in LGBTQ+ individuals. Our research will also help establish a global understanding of eating disorders through cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural partnerships, advancing our understanding of the assessment, etiology, and intervention of eating disorders in all people.

To learn more about Dr. Barnhart and our research group, current and future projects, and ways to get involved, please visit the EMBRACED Lab website.

Publications

• Barnhart, W.R., Costello, K., Burnette, C.B., Murray, M., He., J., Nagata, J.M., & Braden, A. (Under Review). Intraminority stress clarifies the link between LGBTQ+ community involvement and thinness-oriented disordered eating in sexual minority men.
• Barnhart, W.R., Cui, S., Cui, T., & He, J. (2023). Relationships between weight bias internalization and biopsychosocial health outcomes: A prospective study in Chinese adolescents. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 56(5), 1021-2033. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23904
• Barnhart, W.R., Cui, S., Cui, T., Hong, D., & He, J. (2023). Transgender congruence, body appreciation, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating in Chinese transgender adults. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 56(6), 1125-1134. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23932
• Barnhart, W.R., Cui, T., Cui, S., Han, X., Lu, C., & He, J. (2022). Examining appearance pressures, thinness and muscularity internalizations, and social comparisons as correlates of drive for muscularity and thinness- oriented disordered eating in Chinese heterosexual men and women: Testing an integrated model. Body Image, 43, 429-439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.10.005
• Barnhart, W.R., Cui, T., Cui, S., Ren, Y., Ji, F., & He, J. (2023). Exploring the prospective relationships between food addiction symptoms, weight bias internalization, and psychological distress in Chinese adolescents. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 56(12), 2304-2314. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24066
• Barnhart, W.R., Cui, T., Zhang, H., Cui, S., Zhao, Y., Lu, Y., & He, J. (2023). Examining an integrated sociocultural and objectification model of thinness- and muscularity-oriented disordered eating in older Chinese men and women. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 56(10), 1875-1886. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24017
• Barnhart, W.R., Han, J., Zhang, Y., Luo, W., Li, Y., & He, J. (2024). Differences in thinness- and muscularity-oriented eating and body image disturbances and psychosocial well-being in Chinese sexual minority men reporting top, bottom, and versatile sexual self-labels. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 53, 3973-3991. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-02962-x
• Barnhart, W.R., Jordan, A.K., Angoff, H.D., Kalantzis, M.A., Johnson, A.C., Dial, L.A., & McDevitt, A.N. (Under Review). Adopting an intersectional approach to eating and body image disturbances in sexual and gender minority adults from the United States: A latent class analysis.
• Barnhart, W.R., Sun, H., Lin, Z., Lu, C., Han, X., & He, J. (2022). Integrating the tripartite influence, minority stress, and social comparison theories to explain body image and disordered eating in Chinese sexual minority men and women. Body Image, 43, 95-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.08.012

View a complete list of publications

Professional Activities

• Barnhart, W.R., Chen, X., Li, Y., & He, J. (2025, May). Appearance congruence moderates interpersonal needs-disordered eating links in gender-diverse adults [Paper presentation]. 2025 International Conference on Eating Disorders, San Antonio, TX, USA.
• Barnhart, W.R., Costello, K., Burnette, B., Murray, M., He, J., & Braden, A. (2025, May). Intraminority stress clarifies links between LGBTQ+ community involvement and disordered eating [Paper presentation]. 2025 International Conference on Eating Disorders, San Antonio, TX, USA.
• Barnhart, W.R., Gaggiano, C., He, J., & Braden, A. (2025, May). Sociocultural models of disordered eating in sexual minority men: Clarifying temporal associations [Paper presentation]. 2025 International Conference on Eating Disorders, San Antonio, TX, USA.
• Barnhart, W.R., Hog, L., Zickar, M., Baker, J., Dinkler, L., Guintivano, J., Johnson, J., MacDermod, C., Munn-Chernoff, M., Micali, N., Ortiz, S., Pisetsky, E., White, J., Bulik, C.M., & Thornton, L.M. (2025, May). Measurement invariance and symptom differences on the NIAS in children, adolescents, and adults [Paper presentation]. 2025 International Conference on Eating Disorders, San Antonio, TX, USA.
• Barnhart, W.R., Cui, S., Xu, Y., Cui, T., Tan, C., Zhao, Y., Yin, J., & He, J. (2024, March). Self-objectification in Chinese pregnant women: The mixed role of functionality appreciation [Paper presentation]. 2024 International Conference on Eating Disorders, New York, NY, USA.
• Barnhart, W.R., Cui, T., Cui, S., & He, J. (2023, June). Prospective associations between weight bias internalization and biopsychosocial correlates in Chinese adolescents [Paper presentation]. 2023 International Conference on Eating Disorders, Washington, DC, USA.

Affiliations

• Editorial Board Member, Journal of Eating Disorders
• Member, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
• Member, Academy for Eating Disorders
• Member, Society of Behavioral Medicine
• Member, American Psychological Association

Research collaborations

• Jinbo He, PhD, SCI-Cream Lab, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
• Jason M. Nagata, MD, MSc, Nagata Lab, University of California San Francisco
• Cynthia M. Bulik, PhD, FAED, UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders
• Laura M. Thornton, PhD, UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders
• Tiffany A. Brown, PhD, ACCEPT Lab, Auburn University
• C. Blair Burnette, PhD, ARISE Lab, Michigan State University
• Jennifer J. Thomas, PhD, FAED, Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
• Kamryn T. Eddy, PhD, FAED, Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School