Eating styles and their association with body appreciation, weight bias internalization and self-compassion

Background: The assessment of thinness and bias towards overweight people can promote body appreciation and maladaptive eating styles; self-compassion could act mitigating these relationships. Objective: to understand the association between body appreciation, weight bias internalization and eating styles (ES), as well as the role of a self-compassionate attitude in body appreciation. Method: Correlational, cross-sectional study, with 837 adults living in Chile. In the data analysis, multiple regression and mediation analysis were used. Results: Body appreciation and internalization of weight bias predicted emotional ES (beta = -.126; p < .001 and beta = .146; p < .001, respectively), external ES (beta = -.095; p < .001 and beta = .064; p < .001, respectively) and restrictive ES (beta = -.134; p < 001 and beta = .258; p < .001, respectively). Self-compassion mediated the relationship between internalization of weight bias and body appreciation (beta = -.133, CI: [-.157, -.11]). Conclusions: The assessment of the body and the weight bias internalization influence eating styles, and a compassionate attitude towards oneself intervenes in the effect of the weight bias on the devaluation towards the own body.