Shame and eating psychopathology in Portuguese women: Exploring the roles of self-judgment and fears of receiving compassion
Open accessAbstract
Shame has been for long associated with the development and maintenance of body image and eating-related difficulties. However, the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Therefore, the current study sought to examine the mechanisms of self-judgment and fears of receiving compassion from others in the association between external shame and disordered eating, while controlling for body mass index (BMI). Participants in this study were 400 women from the general population, aged between 18 and 55 years old. Correlation analyses revealed significant and positive relationships between external shame, self-judgment, fears of receiving compassion from others and eating psychopathology. A path analysis confirmed that, when controlling for the effect of BMI, external shame has a direct effect on disordered eating severity, and also an indirect effect, mediated by higher levels of self-judgment and increased fears of receiving others' kindness and compassion. Results showed the plausibility of the tested model which explained 36% of the variance of disordered eating. These findings seem to support that women who perceive that others view them negatively tend to be defensive and engage in maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (such as harsh critical attitudes towards the self and being resistant to others' compassion), which may trigger maladaptive eating attitudes and behaviours. The current research appears to be an innovative study in the field of body image and eating-related psychopathology and seems to represent a new avenue for future research and for the development of intervention programs.
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People with SE-AN may find it difficult to develop trust in clinicians, reject and defend against receiving compassion, and reaffirm their belief and investment in AN as a safe harbour.
“We may therefore find it difficult to develop trust in clinicians [181], reject and defend against receiving compassion [182–184], and reaffirm our belief and investment in AN as a safe harbour.”
From A lived experience response to the proposed diagnosis of terminal anorexia nervosa: learning from iatrogenic harm, ambivalence and enduring hope (2023) · cites this paper as [184]
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- Authors
- Oliveira, V. R., Ferreira, C., Mendes, A. L., & Marta-Simões, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Coimbra (PT)
- Corresponding author
- Oliveira, Vanessa Raquel
- Venue
- Appetite
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-03
- Volume
- 110
- Pages
- 80-85
- ISSN
- 0195-6663 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2560201732
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 4.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- Appetite (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
- Keywords
- shame, external shame, self-judgment, disordered eating, eating disorder psychopathology, body image, emotion regulation, women, body mass index
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Body Image, Eating, Empathy, Fear, Feeding Behavior, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Portugal, Psychopathology, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self-Assessment, Shame, Body Mass Index, Young Adult
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