Is Self-Compassion an Effective Strategy for Improving Body Image and Related Constructs among Women with Normal Weight and Excess Weight?

<p>Negative attitudes towards one’s own body are common amongst women in Western society and have been linked to adverse consequences including negative affect, low self-esteem, and eating pathology. Self-compassion has been found effective in improving body image; however, no published studies have examined self-compassion in populations with excess weight despite the positive correlation between weight and body dissatisfaction. The current study examined the efficacy of a self-compassion exercise in participants with negative body image and either normal or excess weight to determine whether self-compassion differently affects body image, affect, and self-esteem across weight groups. The self-compassion exercise promoted more adaptive body image and self-compassion than the control condition for those with high weight bias internalization (WBI; i.e., internalization of society’s negative stigma against those with excess weight). Additionally, WBI was significantly related to less adaptive levels of outcome variables regardless of condition. Implications for future body image interventions are discussed.</p>