Self-Compassion May Have Benefits for Body Image among Women with a Higher Body Mass Index and Internalized Weight Bias

Negative attitudes towards one’s own body are common among women and are linked to adverse consequences including negative affect, low self-esteem, and eating pathology. Self-compassion has been found effective in improving body image; however, few published studies have examined self-compassion in populations with higher BMIs despite the positive correlation between weight and body dissatisfaction. The current study examined the efficacy of a self-compassion letter-writing exercise versus two active control groups in response to a negative body image induction. The sample of college-aged females (M age = 20.91 years; SD = 5.47) was split between higher and lower BMI to determine whether self-compassion affects body image, affect, and self-esteem differently across weight groups. Weight bias internalization (WBI: i.e., internalization of society’s negative stigma against those with higher BMIs) was examined as a moderator of this relationship in the higher BMI group. Results suggest that letter writing improved body image regardless of condition (p < 0.001). The self-compassion exercise promoted more adaptive body image (p = 0.007) and self-compassion (p = 0.013) than one control condition for those with high WBI. Results suggest that self-compassion can be helpful in ameliorating negative body image for females of all sizes, and that levels of WBI may alter the effect of body image interventions.