The Effects of Self-Compassion and Self-Esteem Writing Interventions on Women’s Valuation of Weight Management Goals, Body Appreciation, and Eating Behaviors

Abstract

In this study, we examined the effects of body-focused daily self-compassion and self-esteem expressive writing activities on women’s valuation of weight management goals, body appreciation, bulimic symptoms, and healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors. One-hundred twenty-six women, recruited from the community and a university participant pool ( Mage = 29.3, SD = 13.6), were randomly allocated to one of the three writing conditions: body-focused self-compassion, body-focused self-esteem, or control. Women reflected on a moment within the past 24 hours that made them feel self-conscious about their bodies, eating, or exercise habits (self-compassion and self-esteem conditions) or on a particular situation or feeling that occurred in the past 24 hours (control condition) for 4–7 days. At post-treatment (24 hours after the intervention), women in the self-compassion group demonstrated decreased bulimic symptoms, while women in the self-esteem and control conditions did not. Furthermore, clinically significant changes in bulimic symptoms were associated with being in the self-compassion condition but not in the self-esteem or control conditions. Results suggest that body-focused writing interventions may be more effective in temporarily reducing eating disorder symptoms in women if they focus on harnessing self-compassion. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ ’s website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/03616843211013465

Self-Compassion as a Mediator of the Relationship between Adult Women’s Attachment and Intuitive Eating

“…Results highlight the benefits of self-compassion for adaptive eating behaviors and may suggest that increasing self-compassion in adult women could support their ability to engage in intuitive eating. There exist many methods of increasing self-compassion in women that are both effective and cost-efficient, such as writing activities, that aid emotion regulation and lower disordered eating [46,51]. It is plausible that increasing women's self-compassion through an intervention could help them cope with negative interpersonal experiences elicited by perceived abandonment (i.e., attachment anxiety) or lack of support (i.e., attachment avoidance), and in turn, help nurture their intuitive eating.…”

“…Rather than mixing negative perceptions with themselves, individuals acknowledge that their thoughts and emotions are just that, which helps dispel their irrational beliefs [50]. Previous studies employing self-compassion interventions have demonstrated that increased selfcompassionate coping is conducive to better emotion regulation as indicated by lower levels of negative affect [46] and reduced emotionally-driven eating as indicated by lower bulimic symptoms [51]. These findings may suggest that women's degree of self-compassion may play a role in how they perceive and respond to negative interpersonal environments, and in turn, relate to how they approach eating.…”

Self-Esteem and Self-Compassion: A Narrative Review and Meta-Analysis on Their Links to Psychological Problems and Well-Being

“…Similar results have been obtained in research comparing the efficacy of self-compassion and self-esteem interventions within the context of eating disorders and body dissatisfaction: Self-compassion-inducing writing produced more positive bodily feelings and greater reduction in eating disorder symptoms than self-esteem-inducing writing. [75][76][77] In conclusion, while these were all studies with non-clinical samples in which a rather simple manipulation of selfcompassion and self-esteem was conducted by means of writing exercises, the results nevertheless indicated that induced self-compassion is associated with better outcomes than induced self-esteem. Together with the observation that selfcompassion appears easier to generate, one might conclude that interventions targeting this characteristic have greater potential for building resilience and well-being than interventions focusing on self-esteem.…”

“…Similar results have been obtained in research comparing the efficacy of self-compassion and self-esteem interventions within the context of eating disorders and body dissatisfaction: Self-compassion–inducing writing produced more positive bodily feelings and greater reduction in eating disorder symptoms than self-esteem–inducing writing. 75–77 …”

“I’m Not Only a Body”: Change in Thoughts about the Body after Mirror Exposure Treatment in Women with Obesity—An Exploratory Study

“…In addition, negative thoughts towards body image and body shape occur as a unique and conclusive factor in the origin of this BD and the symptomatology that may be associated with it [ 14 , 35 ]. It is known that externalizing thoughts about the body appears to help decrease BD and ED symptomatology [ 36 ], so studying the thoughts of people with obesity during treatment using a qualitative methodology could be key to understanding, from a more global perspective, the progress made during the sessions. However, there are few studies that use this type of methodology, and even fewer longitudinal studies.…”