Chair of Sport and Health Management, Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Germany.
Chair of Sport and Health Management, Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Germany.
Body Image. 2020 Dec;35:255-264. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.09.008. Epub 2020 Nov 3.
Comparing one's body against the bodies of others is related to lower positive body image and higher eating pathology. Underlying mechanisms as well as protective factors of these relationships are yet to be discovered. The present study examined body image flexibility and body appreciation as potential mediators of the association between appearance comparisons and eating disorder psychopathology. Additionally, it was tested whether self-compassion moderates the mediation effects. In an online sample comprising 250 women (M = 42.66, SD = 12.24), the inverse relationship between appearance comparisons and body appreciation was mediated by body image flexibility and the positive relationship between appearance comparisons and eating disorder psychopathology was mediated by body image flexibility and serially mediated by body image flexibility and body appreciation, when controlling for body mass index and age. Simple mediations were further moderated by self-compassion, such that indirect effects were attenuated at high levels of self-compassion. Promoting body image flexibility may be one potential target for helping women to engage in less maladaptive and more adaptive ways of treating the body when comparing one's appearance. Building self-compassion may be another potential target that may protect body image flexibility and its correlates in the face of appearance comparisons.
将自己的身体与他人的身体进行比较与较低的积极身体形象和更高的饮食病理学有关。这些关系的潜在机制和保护因素尚未被发现。本研究考察了身体形象灵活性和身体欣赏作为外表比较与饮食障碍心理病理学之间关联的潜在中介因素。此外，还测试了自我同情是否调节了中介效应。在一个由 250 名女性组成的在线样本中（M=42.66，SD=12.24），当控制体重指数和年龄时，外表比较与身体欣赏之间的负相关关系通过身体形象灵活性来中介，外表比较与饮食障碍心理病理学之间的正相关关系通过身体形象灵活性和序列中介来中介，身体形象灵活性和身体欣赏。简单的中介作用进一步受到自我同情的调节，使得在自我同情水平较高时，间接效应减弱。促进身体形象灵活性可能是帮助女性在比较外表时采用更少适应不良和更适应的方式对待身体的一个潜在目标。培养自我同情可能是另一个潜在的目标，它可以在面对外表比较时保护身体形象的灵活性及其相关因素。
