The moderating role of self‐compassion on weight and shape concerns and eating pathology: A longitudinal study

Abstract

Our findings suggest that high self-compassion may reduce the likelihood that undergraduate students with weight/shape concerns will engage in disordered eating behavior in the first year of college. They also highlight the influence of self-compassion on general stress.

Is self-compassion relevant to the pathology and treatment of eating and body image concerns? A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Recent studies have also suggested that self-compassion can: buffer against risk factors for eating and body concerns (e.g., Ferreira, Matos, Duarte & Pinto-Gouvei, 2014;Stutts & Blomquist, 2018); prevent the initial occurrence of risk factors (e.g., Ferreira, Pinto, & Duarte, 2013;Marta-Simões, Ferreira, & Mendes, 2016); and reduce existing eating and body image problems (e.g., Breines, Toole, Tu & Chen, 2014;Kelly & Carter, 2015).…”

Kindness begins with yourself: The role of self‐compassion in adolescent body satisfaction and eating pathology

“…Although the adult literature demonstrates that self‐compassion is a malleable construct that has robust associations with health outcomes, only a handful of studies have explored the longitudinal role of self‐compassion in body satisfaction and eating pathology (e.g., Stutts & Blomquist, ). Notably, few studies have investigated the relationship between self‐compassion and body image in adolescents (Mosewich, Kowalski, Sabiston, Sedgwick, & Tracy, ; Rodgers et al, , ), and not one study to date has examined the link between self‐compassion and disordered eating in youth.…”

Psychopathology Factors That Affect the Relationship Between Body Size and Body Dissatisfaction and the Relationship Between Body Dissatisfaction and Eating Pathology

“…Moderator research has shed some light on the factors that accentuate the relationship between BD and EP. For example among women, perfectionism, body surveillance, low self-compassion, neuroticism, low well-being; anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and having a family member or friend with an ED, have each been found to moderate the relationship between BD and EP (Twamley and Davis, 1999; Tylka, 2004; Downey and Chang, 2007; Brannan and Petrie, 2011; Juarascio et al, 2011; Stutts and Blomquist, 2018). However, to our knowledge, no research has specifically looked at the characteristics of those with low levels of EP relative to their BD.…”