Body Image. 2016 Dec 6;20:49-57. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.11.004. [Epub ahead of print]
- 1Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: hmoreira@fpce.uc.pt.
- 2Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
Abstract
This
study aimed to examine (a) whether mindfulness skills were associated
with higher quality of life through lower body shame for
treatment-seeking children/adolescents with overweight and obesity and
(b) whether this indirect effect was moderated by children/adolescents'
age and gender. The sample included 153 children/adolescents with
overweight/obesity followed in individual nutrition consultations.
Participants completed self-report measures of mindfulness, body shame,
and quality of life. Moderated mediation analyses showed that higher
levels of mindfulness were associated with better perceived quality of
life through lower body shame, but only among girls. For boys, higher
levels of body shame did not translate into a poorer perception of
quality of life, and the indirect effect of mindfulness on quality of
life via lower body shame was not significant. These results suggest
that body shame is an important mechanism to explain why mindfulness may
help girls with overweight/obesity perceive a better quality of life.
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS:
Body shame; Mindfulness; Pediatric obesity; Quality of life
