The acceptance model of intuitive eating: a comparison of women in emerging adulthood, early adulthood, and middle adulthood.
The acceptance model of intuitive eating (Avalos & Tylka, 2006) posits that body acceptance by others helps women appreciate their body and resist adopting an observer's perspective of their body, which contribute to their eating intuitively/adaptively. We extended this model by integrating body mass index (BMI) into its structure and investigating it with emerging (ages 18-25 years old, n = 318), early (ages 26-39 years old, n = 238), and middle (ages 40-65 years old, n = 245) adult women. Multiple-group analysis revealed that this model fit the data for all age groups. Body appreciation and resistance to adopt an observer's perspective mediated the body acceptance by others-intuitive eating link. Body acceptance by others mediated the social support-body appreciation and BMI-body appreciation links. Early and middle adult women had stronger negative BMI-body acceptance by others and BMI-intuitive eating relationships and a stronger positive body acceptance by others-body appreciation relationship than emerging adult women. Early adult women had a stronger positive resistance to adopt observer's perspective-body appreciation relationship than emerging and middle adult women.
Department of Psychology, Ohio State University.
Casey L
CL
Augustus-Horvath
Department of Psychology, Ohio State University.
Tracy L
TL
Tylka
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D049628:Body Size; D002605:Character; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D007206:Individuality; D007389:Internal-External Control; D019545:Intuition; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012528:Satiety Response; D055815:Young Adult