Self-compassion, body appreciation, and eating disorder symptoms among young adults with weight loss goals: a diary study

Purpose: Research has shown that self-compassion and body appreciation are associated with less disordered eating. However, previous literature has mostly examined between-person associations, which do not account for fluctuations in these constructs within individuals over time. Understanding such fluctuations could inform future tailored interventions to better address individuals’ needs by targeting times when they are most vulnerable. The aim of this study was to examine dynamic within-person associations between self-compassion, body appreciation, and disordered eating in young adults who self-reported trying to lose weight. Methods: Fifty-seven 18–30-year-old adults aiming to lose weight reported their levels of self-compassion, using items from the Short Form Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-SF), body appreciation, using items from the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) and disordered eating, using items derived from previous diary research, twice daily over a 1-week period. Generalised Linear Mixed Modelling (GLMM) was used with three levels: observations (level 1), nested within days (level 2), nested within individuals (level 3). Each GLMM included three nominal random effects (participant, day, time of day) and controlled for age, gender, and Body Mass Index (BMI). Effect sizes, represented by squared semi-partial correlation coefficients (sr2), were calculated for each GLMM via multiple linear regression analyses to represent the unique amount of variance explained by each predictor variable. Results: The findings showed that after controlling for age, BMI, and gender, negative associations between self-compassion and disordered eating, and body appreciation and disordered eating were found, while a positive association was found between self-compassion and body appreciation. Conclusions: The findings suggest that further research should examine whether fostering self-compassion and body appreciation may be putative targets to reduce disordered eating in young adults who aim to lose weight. Level of evidence: Level III: Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case control analytic studies.