The present study represents the first attempt to examine a moderated mediation model of appearance-related self-conscious emotions and self‐esteem in the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and food preoccupation in healthy adult women. On the basis of previous findings, we put forward the following hypotheses: Appearance-related self-conscious emotions mediates the relationship between BMI and food preoccupation (H1); Body‐related shame (H2a) and body-related guilt (H2b) mediate the relationship between BMI and food preoccupation in women with lower levels of self-esteem. The sample included 407 healthy adult women (Mage = 32.61, SD = 11.66; MBMI = 24.21, SD = 4.92). They completed the paper‐and‐pencil questionnaires: the Body and Appearance Self‐Conscious Emotions Scale, the Eating Attitudes Test–26 and the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale. We estimated a simple mediation and a moderated mediation models using the PROCESS macro (Model 4 and 7; Hayes, 2017). Our findings revealed that appearance-related self-conscious emotions partially mediates the relationship between BMI and food preoccupation in healthy adult women (H1 was supported). In women with a low or average level of self‐esteem, higher BMI was related to higher body‐related shame, which, in turn, was associated with higher levels of food preoccupation (H2a was supported). Whereas, when body‐related guilt was a mediator the conditional indirect effect was not significant (H2b was not supported). Self‐esteem serves as a protective factor against body‐related shame related to higher BMI and, as a result, against food preoccupation in healthy adult women.

Authors:
Anna Brytek-Matera, University of Wroclaw, Poland
Katarzyna Czubak‐Paluch, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland
Magdalena Razmus, Maria Curie‐ Sklodowska University, Poland

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Anna Brytek-Matera is a Head of the Nutritional Psychology Unit at the Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Poland

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna-Brytek-Matera

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