The additive role of body image flexibility in explaining disordered eating behavior

In treating individuals with disordered eating (DE) concerns, such as excessive dieting, bingeing, and purging, evidence shows that emotion/behavior regulation plays a principal role in the nature and treatment of DE. Body image flexibility (BIF) is a fairly new concept that reflects adaptive regulation processes in the context of DE. The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to investigate whether BIF accounts for a unique proportion of variance in DE behaviors while controlling for gender, body mass index (BMI), DE cognition, mindfulness, and general psychological inflexibility. The investigated sample consisted of male (n=135) and female (n = 438) non-clinical undergraduates of varying demographic backgrounds (Mage=21). Along with demographic information, students also completed the self-report measures of interest (MAAS, AAQ-II, MAC-R, Eat-26-Behavior, and BI-AQQ). A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that mindfulness (MAAS), psychological inflexibility (AAQ-II), DE cognitions (MAC-R) and demographics (age, gender, race, BMI) together explained 17% of the variance in DE behaviors (R2∆=.166, p<.001). Furthermore, when BIF was added, the model then accounted for an additional 5% of variance (R2∆=.046, p< .001). These findings suggest that BIF is a unique and useful construct in understanding DE behavior and may be beneficial to target in DE treatment.