Ana Laura Mendes1, Maria Coimbra2, Maria Cristina Canavarro2, Cláudia Ferreira2. 1. Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive and Behavioral Intervention (CINEICC), Faculty of Psychological and Education Sciences, University of Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, Apartado 6153, 3001-802, Coimbra, Portugal. alaurammendes@gmail.com. 2. Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive and Behavioral Intervention (CINEICC), Faculty of Psychological and Education Sciences, University of Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, Apartado 6153, 3001-802, Coimbra, Portugal.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Feelings of shame and social comparison focused on physical appearance have been identified as important risk factors for the engagement in disordered eating behaviours. Further, recent studies have emphasized the role of body-image psychological (in)flexibility in the association between several risk factors and eating psychopathology. The current study intended to explore, in two different path models, the effects of external shame, physical appearance-related social comparison, and body image inflexibility on the explanation of eating psychopathology severity. METHODS: This study follows a cross-sectional design and was conducted in a sample of 776 emerging-adult women, aged between 18 and 28, who completed an online battery of self-report measures. Path analyses were conducted using a structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Model 1's results showed that external shame and unfavourable social comparison based on physical appearance directly accounts for 26% of the variance in disordered eating. In turn, when body image inflexibility is introduced as a mediator in the relationship presented in Model 1, variance in disordered eating increases to 60% (Model 2). These results suggest that both external shame and unfavourable physical appearance-related social comparison have an impact on disordered eating behaviours. However, when body image inflexibility is introduced, the mentioned relationships change and reveal that psychological inflexibility is a significant mediator of these associations. CONCLUSION: These findings seem to demonstrate that body image inflexibility is a key process for the engagement in disordered eating, so the promotion of psychological flexibility focused on one's body is crucial for the prevention and treatment of disordered eating behaviours and attitudes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV: Cross-sectional study.
PURPOSE: Feelings of shame and social comparison focused on physical appearance have been identified as important risk factors for the engagement in disordered eating behaviours. Further, recent studies have emphasized the role of body-image psychological (in)flexibility in the association between several risk factors and eating psychopathology. The current study intended to explore, in two different path models, the effects of external shame, physical appearance-related social comparison, and body image inflexibility on the explanation of eating psychopathology severity. METHODS: This study follows a cross-sectional design and was conducted in a sample of 776 emerging-adult women, aged between 18 and 28, who completed an online battery of self-report measures. Path analyses were conducted using a structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Model 1's results showed that external shame and unfavourable social comparison based on physical appearance directly accounts for 26% of the variance in disordered eating. In turn, when body image inflexibility is introduced as a mediator in the relationship presented in Model 1, variance in disordered eating increases to 60% (Model 2). These results suggest that both external shame and unfavourable physical appearance-related social comparison have an impact on disordered eating behaviours. However, when body image inflexibility is introduced, the mentioned relationships change and reveal that psychological inflexibility is a significant mediator of these associations. CONCLUSION: These findings seem to demonstrate that body image inflexibility is a key process for the engagement in disordered eating, so the promotion of psychological flexibility focused on one's body is crucial for the prevention and treatment of disordered eating behaviours and attitudes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV: Cross-sectional study.
Authors: Antonio Preti; Giovanni de Girolamo; Gemma Vilagut; Jordi Alonso; Ron de Graaf; Ronny Bruffaerts; Koen Demyttenaere; Alejandra Pinto-Meza; Josep Maria Haro; Piero Morosini Journal: J Psychiatr Res Date: 2009-05-08 Impact factor: 4.791
Authors: Marie Ng; Tom Fleming; Margaret Robinson; Blake Thomson; Nicholas Graetz; Christopher Margono; Erin C Mullany; Stan Biryukov; Cristiana Abbafati; Semaw Ferede Abera; Jerry P Abraham; Niveen M E Abu-Rmeileh; Tom Achoki; Fadia S AlBuhairan; Zewdie A Alemu; Rafael Alfonso; Mohammed K Ali; Raghib Ali; Nelson Alvis Guzman; Walid Ammar; Palwasha Anwari; Amitava Banerjee; Simon Barquera; Sanjay Basu; Derrick A Bennett; Zulfiqar Bhutta; Jed Blore; Norberto Cabral; Ismael Campos Nonato; Jung-Chen Chang; Rajiv Chowdhury; Karen J Courville; Michael H Criqui; David K Cundiff; Kaustubh C Dabhadkar; Lalit Dandona; Adrian Davis; Anand Dayama; Samath D Dharmaratne; Eric L Ding; Adnan M Durrani; Alireza Esteghamati; Farshad Farzadfar; Derek F J Fay; Valery L Feigin; Abraham Flaxman; Mohammad H Forouzanfar; Atsushi Goto; Mark A Green; Rajeev Gupta; Nima Hafezi-Nejad; Graeme J Hankey; Heather C Harewood; Rasmus Havmoeller; Simon Hay; Lucia Hernandez; Abdullatif Husseini; Bulat T Idrisov; Nayu Ikeda; Farhad Islami; Eiman Jahangir; Simerjot K Jassal; Sun Ha Jee; Mona Jeffreys; Jost B Jonas; Edmond K Kabagambe; Shams Eldin Ali Hassan Khalifa; Andre Pascal Kengne; Yousef Saleh Khader; Young-Ho Khang; Daniel Kim; Ruth W Kimokoti; Jonas M Kinge; Yoshihiro Kokubo; Soewarta Kosen; Gene Kwan; Taavi Lai; Mall Leinsalu; Yichong Li; Xiaofeng Liang; Shiwei Liu; Giancarlo Logroscino; Paulo A Lotufo; Yuan Lu; Jixiang Ma; Nana Kwaku Mainoo; George A Mensah; Tony R Merriman; Ali H Mokdad; Joanna Moschandreas; Mohsen Naghavi; Aliya Naheed; Devina Nand; K M Venkat Narayan; Erica Leigh Nelson; Marian L Neuhouser; Muhammad Imran Nisar; Takayoshi Ohkubo; Samuel O Oti; Andrea Pedroza; Dorairaj Prabhakaran; Nobhojit Roy; Uchechukwu Sampson; Hyeyoung Seo; Sadaf G Sepanlou; Kenji Shibuya; Rahman Shiri; Ivy Shiue; Gitanjali M Singh; Jasvinder A Singh; Vegard Skirbekk; Nicolas J C Stapelberg; Lela Sturua; Bryan L Sykes; Martin Tobias; Bach X Tran; Leonardo Trasande; Hideaki Toyoshima; Steven van de Vijver; Tommi J Vasankari; J Lennert Veerman; Gustavo Velasquez-Melendez; Vasiliy Victorovich Vlassov; Stein Emil Vollset; Theo Vos; Claire Wang; XiaoRong Wang; Elisabete Weiderpass; Andrea Werdecker; Jonathan L Wright; Y Claire Yang; Hiroshi Yatsuya; Jihyun Yoon; Seok-Jun Yoon; Yong Zhao; Maigeng Zhou; Shankuan Zhu; Alan D Lopez; Christopher J L Murray; Emmanuela Gakidou Journal: Lancet Date: 2014-05-29 Impact factor: 79.321