title: Understanding the roles of self-esteem, self-compassion, and fear of self-compassion in eating disorder pathology: an examination of female students and eating disorder patients.
abstract: The present study examined the relative contributions of self-compassion, fear of self-compassion, and self-esteem in eating disorder pathology. One-hundred and fifty-five female undergraduate students and 97 females entering eating disorder treatment completed the Self-Compassion Scale, Fears of Compassion Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory, and Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire. T-tests revealed that the patient group had lower mean self-compassion and higher mean fear of self-compassion than the student group. When controlling for self-esteem, high fear of self-compassion emerged as the strongest predictor of eating disorder pathology in the patient group, whereas low self-compassion was the strongest predictor in the student group. These preliminary results suggest that targeting fear of self-compassion may be important when intervening with individuals suffering from an eating disorder, whereas building self-compassion may be a valuable approach for eating disorder prevention.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1. Electronic address: allison.kelly@uwaterloo.ca.
authors: Allison C
authors: AC
authors: Kelly
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1. Electronic address: kvimalak@uwaterloo.ca.
authors: Kiruthiha
authors: K
authors: Vimalakanthan
authors: Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, A1B 3X9. Electronic address: jacqueline.carter@mun.ca.
authors: Jacqueline C
authors: JC
authors: Carter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D004645:Empathy; D005239:Fear; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012649:Self Concept; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anorexia nervosa; Bulimia nervosa; Eating disorders; Fear of self-compassion; Self-compassion; Self-esteem