A brief pilot self-compassion intervention for women with overweight/obesity and internalized weight bias: Feasibility, acceptability, and future directions

UNSTRUCTURED Weight bias internalization – also known as weight self-stigma - is a serious health concern for individuals at higher body weights. Weight bias internalization is associated with more avoidance of healthcare and health-promoting activities, more disordered eating, more social isolation, and weight gain. Elevated weight bias internalization has been associated with low self-compassion, yet few investigations have explored self-compassion as a potential mechanism in reduction of internalized weight bias. Ruby is a two-arm randomized controlled trial designed to test the efficacy of a 4-week digital self-compassion intervention to reduce internalized weight bias, compared to wait list control. Adults with elevated internalized weight bias and a body mass index over 30 kg/m2 (n=80) will be recruited. Ruby is a standalone digital trial and will be delivered entirely via smartphone using web-based data collection and text messages. Intervention content will include psychoeducation and daily mindfulness practices with a focus on self-compassion and body concerns. We will use intent-to-treat analyses to examine changes in weight bias internalization over time by treatment arm using one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models and linear mixed models. The present protocol was designed in May 2020 and approved in December 2020. Data collection is currently underway. Ruby will be the first digital standalone self-compassion based intervention designed to reduce internalized weight bias. Due to its standalone digital delivery, Ruby may be a highly-scalable treatment for internalized weight bias that can be delivered on its own or combined with other treatments. We expect Ruby to be accessible to many, as participants can access the digital intervention at times of the day most convenient in their schedule and are not burdened by in-person time commitments, which can be a barrier for participants with competing demands on their time and resources. If efficacious, Ruby will be poised to expand a burgeoning body of literature related to psychological intervention in this area of need.

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Supplemental Material for Factors Linking Perceived Discrimination and Weight Bias Internalization to Body Appreciation and Eating Pathology: A Moderated Mediation Analysis of Self-Compassion and Psychological Distress

Stigma and Health ◽

10.1037/sah0000334.supp ◽

2021 ◽

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

Mediation Analysis ◽

Perceived Discrimination ◽

Moderated Mediation ◽

Weight Bias ◽

Eating Pathology ◽

Body Appreciation ◽

Self Compassion ◽

Weight Bias Internalization

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Internalized Weight Bias and Disordered Eating: The Mediating Role of Body Image Avoidance and Drive for Thinness

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02999 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

Author(s):

Rachel D. Marshall ◽

Janet D. Latner ◽

Akihiko Masuda

Keyword(s):

Body Image ◽

Disordered Eating ◽

Weight Bias ◽

Drive For Thinness ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Internalized Weight Bias ◽

Body Image Avoidance

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Compassion Focused Therapy Groups: Evidence from Routine Clinical Practice

Behaviour Change ◽

10.1017/bec.2018.16 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 35 (3) ◽

pp. 167-173 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

James McManus ◽

Zoe Tsivos ◽

Sarah Woodward ◽

Janelle Fraser ◽

Rosalyn Hartwell

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Routine Clinical Practice ◽

Self Report ◽

Psychiatric Diagnoses ◽

Future Directions ◽

Adult Mental Health ◽

Self Compassion ◽

Compassion Focused Therapy ◽

Group Self

ObjectivesPsychological therapy groups for people in adult mental health services can relieve waiting list pressures and potentially reduce stigma and social isolation. Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) focuses on shame and self-criticism. The aim of this study was to evaluate a transdiagnostic CFT group.DesignQuantitative and qualitative data were obtained from 13 people who completed the group.MethodsParticipants completed a range of pre- and post-group self-report outcome measures that assess self-criticism and self-compassion.ResultsStatistically significant improvements were found on all measures used, suggesting that attending the CFT group did result in meaningful changes. People who completed the group also provided positive feedback about the experience.ConclusionsThe results suggest that running CFT groups is feasible and acceptable to clients with a range of psychiatric diagnoses as part of their care from community mental health teams. People who completed the group demonstrated significant improvements. A proportion of people did not complete the group, and more research is required about the reasons for this. Limitations of this study are considered together with future directions for research into CFT.

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Self-Compassion and Psychological Well-being

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190464684.013.27 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kristin Neff ◽

Christopher Germer

Keyword(s):

Clinical Practice ◽

Empirical Evidence ◽

Well Being ◽

Human Experience ◽

Clinical Implications ◽

Future Directions ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Daily Lives ◽

Self Compassion

Self-compassion involves being touched by and open to one’s own suffering, not avoiding or disconnecting from it, generating the desire to alleviate one’s suffering and to heal oneself with kindness. Self-compassion also involves offering nonjudgmental understanding to one’s pain, inadequacies, and failures, so that one’s experience is seen as part of the larger human experience. This chapter will provide an overview of theory and research on self-compassion and its link to psychological well-being, which is the goal of clinical practice. It will discuss what self-compassion is and what it is not (e.g., a form of weakness, selfishness, etc.), and provide empirical evidence to support these distinctions. Finally, it will discuss methods that have been developed to teach individuals how to be more self-compassionate in their daily lives, some clinical implications of self-compassion training, and future directions for research.

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