Relations between implicit attitudes towards eating disorder stimuli and disordered eating symptoms among at-risk college women

A meta-analysis of disordered eating and its association with self-criticism and self-compassion

OBJECTIVE

Future treatments for eating disorders (ED) need to be enhanced by targeting maintaining mechanisms. Literature suggests self-criticism and self-critical perfectionism act as key mechanisms exacerbating ED, and self-compassion protects against self-criticism. This meta-analysis examines associations between self-criticism and self-critical perfectionism on disordered eating (DE), and reviews how self-compassion and self-criticism relate to each other with respect to DE.

METHOD

Searches across three databases yielded 135 studies across 42,952 participants. Heterogeneity, publication bias, and quality assessments were analyzed. Moderation analyses between self-criticism measures, self-compassion measures, between clinical and nonclinical samples, and between cross-sectional and experimental studies were also conducted.

RESULTS

Random-effects models showed a medium positive link between self-criticism and DE (r = .37), and 10 subgroups pertaining to various measures of self-criticism utilized in literature showed small to large positive links with DE (r = .20-.52). Preliminary evidence also suggests negative relationships between self-compassion and DE (r = -.40 to -.43) and negative relationships between self-compassion and self-criticism (r = -.04 to -.88).

DISCUSSION

Greater levels of self-criticism is linked with greater levels of DE and reduced levels of self-compassion, suggesting a need to tackle self-criticism and nurture self-compassion in standard treatments for ED. Understanding these interactions better in conjunction with dismantling intervention studies can help develop more effective and efficient interventions targeting self-criticism and self-compassion for people with DE.

PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT

Higher levels of self-criticism are linked with higher levels of DE and lower self-compassion. Self-compassion interventions could be more effective and efficient in reducing ED symptoms if self-criticism is tackled early in such treatments.

What Topics Do Members of the Eating Disorder Online Community Discuss and Empathize with? An Application of Big Data Analytics

Given the stigma of eating disorders (EDs), anonymous online communities of individuals with EDs can play a critical role in their treatment. In our study, we aimed to identify prevalent topics related to EDs in one community. To discover latent topics in an online community dedicated to EDs, we applied an automated text-mining approach to topic modeling after collecting data from Reddit created between January 2011 and September 2020. As a result of topic modeling, topics regarding emotional support, informational support, and inquiries about EDs were discovered. In frequently asked questions and advice about EDs in the online community, community members empathized more with topics soliciting emotional support rather than informational support. Despite the importance of online communities, studies on this topic, especially those analyzing online conversations, have remained limited. By demonstrating the role of online communities in supplementary interventions, our findings can support clinicians in caring for patients with EDs.