Influence of fears of compassion on body image shame and disordered eating

• Purpose: The current study tested a path model examining the impact of fears of compassion in the adoption of disordered eating and whether social safeness and body shame would mediate this relationship.Methods: Participants were 645 women (aged between 18 and 55) from the general community, who completed an online survey.Results: Results indicated that fears of compassion were negatively associated with one's ability to feel secure and safe within close relationships, and positively linked with higher levels of body shame and disordered eating. The tested model accounted for 62% of the variance of disordered eating. Path analyses results revealed that the three dimensions of fears of compassion impacted on disordered eating. Particularly, fear of expressing compassion for others presented a direct impact on disordered eating. Moreover, fears of self-compassion and fears of receiving compassion from others partially impacted on disordered eating attitudes and behaviours, through the mechanisms of social safeness and body image-focused shame. These findings suggested that women who present higher levels of fear of self-compassion and of receiving signs of affection and compassion from others tend to feel more insecure in their social group, which seem explain body shame and the engagement in disordered eating behaviours.Conclusions: This study highlights the pathogenic impact of fears of compassion on body image and eating attitudes and behaviours. The current data seem to offer relevant insights for research and clinical practice, by supporting the relevance of developing compassionate abilities and attitudes to target body image and eating-related difficulties.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi -- Tillämpad psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology -- Applied Psychology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Body shame

Disordered eating

Fears of compassion

Social safeness

adoption

adult

article

body image

clinical practice

fear

feeding behavior

female

human

human experiment

major clinical study

path analysis

shame

adolescent

eating disorder

empathy

middle aged

physiology

psychological model

psychology

self concept

young adult

Feeding and Eating Disorders

Humans

Models

Psychological

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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art (ämneskategori)