The Relationship Between Fears of Compassion, Emotion Regulation Difficulties, and Emotional Eating in College Students: A Moderated Mediation Model

Although previous research has found the impact of fears of compassion on eating disorders, the mechanism underlying the relationship between fears of compassion and emotional eating remains to be examined. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties in the relationships between fears of compassion and emotional eating in college students, as well as the gender difference in the mediation model. The Fears of Compassion Scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire were completed by 673 college students in Fujian Province, China. Structural Equation Modeling was primarily employed to analyze the data. The results showed that both fear of compassion for self and fear of compassion from others were positively associated with emotion regulation difficulties, which in turn were related to emotional eating for female college students. Emotion regulation difficulties played a significant mediating effect in the relationship between fears of compassion and emotional eating. Comparatively, for male college students, only fear of compassion for self was positively associated with emotion regulation difficulties, but emotion regulation difficulties were not related to emotion eating. Moreover, the mediating effect of emotion regulation difficulties was not significant in the relationship between fears of compassion and emotion eating for male college students. The findings suggest that it is important to improve individuals’ fears of compassion to reduce emotional eating, particularly for female college students.

Compassion as a Source of Satisfaction and Fear in Professionals Who Work With People

Background Compassion satisfaction and fear of compassion affect the mental health of professionals who work with people. In addition, each of these two variables can be important indicators of the quality of the services such professionals provide. Methods This study examines compassion as a source of satisfaction and fear among 293 professionals work with people, including 158 teachers, 57 police officers, 45 nurses and 44 imams. A personal information form, the Fear of Compassion Scale, and the Compassion Satisfaction Scale were used as data collection tools. Results Neither fear of compassion nor compassion satisfaction varied significantly according to the sampled professionals’ genders, educational levels, monthly incomes or area of residence. However, both these measures did exhibit statistically significant variation by the respondents’ professional roles, ages, numbers of children and marital statuses. A significant negative relationship between the participants’ fear of compassion and their compassion satisfaction was also identified. Conclusion Courses related to kindness and social interaction should be provided in schools, to help the adults of the future.