Bridging eating disorder symptoms and psychological flexibility and inflexibility in racially diverse emerging adult women: A network analysis

Previous research has emphasized the importance of identifying the core mechanisms underlying eating disorder psychopathology. However, processes that bridge psychological flexibility (PF) and psychological inflexibility (PI) with eating disorder symptoms have yet to be fully clarified, particularly for racially diverse emerging adult women. To address this empirical gap, the current study employed network analysis to explore the interconnections among PF, PI, and eating disorder symptoms in a racially diverse sample of emerging adult women (N = 389). Analyses produced a sparse network, with bridge nodes identified using bridge expected influence (EI). Multiple bridge nodes were identified within the clusters of PI (i.e., lack of awareness), and eating disorder symptoms (i.e., body dissatisfaction). Specifically, results suggested that lack of awareness (PI) and body dissatisfaction (eating disorder symptoms) play essential roles in connecting eating disorder symptoms with PI, even after accounting for PF. In contrast, PF did not appear to be uniquely associated with the deactivation (or activation) of eating disorder symptoms above and beyond PI. These findings contribute to the development of nuanced treatment and prevention models, especially in process-based cognitive behavioral therapy (PB-CBT). Our study also highlights specific processes as primary targets that, when intervened on, could help alleviate eating disorder symptoms, especially for racially diverse emerging adult women.