Falling in the traps of your thoughts: The impact of body image-related cognitive fusion on inflexible eating

Abstract

Literature has shown that young women present high rates of body dissatisfaction, independently of their weight. Therefore, dieting may emerge as a strategy to control one's body image. Nonetheless, it also seems to be a source of great suffering rather than a solution. The aim of the present study was to explore what variables explain the inflexible engagement in eating rules. Our hypothesis is that an inflexible eating pattern results not exclusively from weight and body dissatisfaction and shame but mainly from emotional regulation processes (such as body image-related cognitive fusion). The sample of the present study comprised 659 female college students, aged between 18 and 25 years old, who completed self-report measures. Results revealed that the majority of the normal-weight participants desired to lose weight and to have a thinner body shape. Findings from the path analyses demonstrated that the effects of weight dissatisfaction and shame on the inflexible adhesion to eating rules were fully mediated through the mechanism of body image-related cognitive fusion. Furthermore, the effect of body dissatisfaction was partially operated by this process. This model was controlled by BMI and explained a total of 36% of inflexible adhesion to eating rules. In conclusion, these findings suggest that it is when a woman gets fused and entangled with her body image-related thoughts that these unwanted inner events most impact on her eating rules. This study thus offers important new data for research and clinical practise in the field of body image and eating difficulties.