Lara Palmeira

Fears of happiness and compassion in relationship with depression, alexithymia, and attachment security in a depressed sample

OBJECTIVES In a non-clinical population, fears of compassion and fear of happiness have both been found to be highly correlated with alexithymia and depression. This study sought to explore these processes and their links with adult attachment and social safeness and pleasure in a depressed group. METHOD A total of 52 participants suffering from moderate to severe depression completed measures of fears of happiness, compassion from others and for self, in addition to measures of alexithymia, attachment, social safeness, and depression, anxiety, and stress. RESULTS Fears of compassion and happiness were highly correlated with alexithymia, adult attachment, and depression, anxiety, and stress. Fear of happiness was found to be the best predictor of depression, anxiety, and stress, whereas fear of compassion from others was the best predictor of adult attachment. A path analysis showed that fears of positive emotion fully mediate the link between alexithymia and depression. This clinical sample had higher mean scores in fears of positive emotions, alexithymia, and depression, anxiety, and stress than a previously studied student sample. CONCLUSIONS This study adds to the evidence that fears of positive emotions are important features of mental health difficulties. Unaddressed, these fears can block positive emotions and may lead to emotional avoidance of positive affect thus contributing as blocks to successful therapy. Therapies for depression may therefore profitably assess and desensitize the fear of positive emotions.

Turning eating psychopathology risk factors into action: the pervasive effect of body image-related cognitive fusion

Body image dissatisfaction and unfavourable social comparisons are significant risk factors to eating psychopathology. Nevertheless, the impact of these negative experiences depends on the cognitive and emotional processes involved. Previous research has shown that cognitive fusion is a nuclear process linked to psychological inflexibility, but its role on body image and eating difficulties remains unclear. This study aims to explore a model of the mediational role of body image-related cognitive fusion (CF-BI) on the relationship between body dissatisfaction, unfavourable social comparisons, and eating psychopathology in a sample of 345 female students. Results from path analyses show that the impact of unfavourable social comparisons on eating psychopathology is fully mediated by CF-BI. Moreover, CF-BI also revealed a mediational effect on the relationship between body image dissatisfaction and the severity of eating symptoms, in spite of the fact that a direct effect of body dissatisfaction still exists. The tested model highlights the crucial role that cognitive fusion, in the specific domain of body image, plays in the relationship between risk factors and the severity of disordered eating attitudes and behaviours. Furthermore, these findings present empirical support for the relevance of addressing acceptance and cognitive defusion techniques to prevent and treat eating disorders.

Processes of change in quality of life, weight self-stigma, body mass index and emotional eating after an acceptance-, mindfulness- and compassion-based group intervention (Kg-Free) for women with overweight and obesity:

This study examined the effectiveness of Kg-Free: an acceptance-, mindfulness- and compassion-based group intervention for women with overweight and obesity at post-treatment and 3-month follow-up and explored the psychological processes that underlie changes in quality of life, weight self-stigma, body mass index and emotional eating at post-treatment. Overall, 53 women completed Kg-Free. At post-treatment and 3-month follow-up, participants reported increased quality of life, mindfulness and self-compassion abilities and decreased weight self-stigma, emotional eating, shame, weight-related experiential avoidance, self-criticism and body mass index. Shame and self-criticism reductions were important mediators of changes in health-related outcomes, whereas weight-related experiential avoidance, mindfulness and self-compassion mediated changes in weight and eating-related outcomes.

Finding the link between internalized weight-stigma and binge eating behaviors in Portuguese adult women with overweight and obesity: The mediator role of self-criticism and self-reassurance

Please cite this article as: Lara Palmeira, José Pinto-Gouveia, Marina Cunha, Sérgio Carvalho , Finding the link between internalized weight-stigma and binge eating behaviors in Portuguese adult women with overweight and obesity: The mediator role of selfcriticism and self-reassurance. The address for the corresponding author was captured as affiliation for all authors. Please check if appropriate. Eatbeh(2017), doi: 10.1016/ j.eatbeh.2017.01.006

Incorporating psychoeducation, mindfulness and self-compassion in a new programme for binge eating (BEfree): Exploring processes of change

This study explores the efficacy of BEfree, a 12-session group intervention that integrates psychoeducation, mindfulness, compassion and value-based action, in a sample of overweight and obese women with binge eating disorder (N = 31). We used repeated measures analyses of variance and explored processes of change in binge eating and eating psychopathology. At post-intervention, participants decreased in binge eating severity, eating psychopathology, external shame, self-criticism, psychological inflexibility, body image cognitive fusion and increased self-compassion and engagement with valued actions. These results were maintained at 3- and 6-month follow-up. The changes in binge eating were mediated by the changes in the psychological processes promoted by BEfree.

BEfree: A new psychological program for binge eating that integrates psychoeducation, mindfulness, and compassion

Background Binge eating disorder (BED) is associated with several psychological and medical problems, such as obesity. Approximately 30% of individuals seeking weight loss treatments present binge eating symptomatology. Moreover, current treatments for BED lack efficacy at follow‐up assessments. Developing mindfulness and self‐compassion seem to be beneficial in treating BED, although there is still room for improvement, which may include integrating these different but complimentary approaches. BEfree is the first program integrating psychoeducation‐, mindfulness‐, and compassion‐based components for treating women with binge eating and obesity. Objective To test the acceptability and efficacy up to 6‐month postintervention of a psychological program based on psychoeducation, mindfulness, and self‐compassion for obese or overweight women with BED. Design A controlled longitudinal design was followed in order to compare results between BEfree (n = 19) and waiting list group (WL; n = 17) from preintervention to postintervention. Results from BEfree were compared from preintervention to 3‐ and 6‐month follow‐up. Results BEfree was effective in eliminating BED; in diminishing eating psychopathology, depression, shame and self‐criticism, body‐image psychological inflexibility, and body‐image cognitive fusion; and in improving obesity‐related quality of life and self‐compassion when compared to a WL control group. Results were maintained at 3‐ and 6‐month follow‐up. Finally, participants rated BEfree helpful for dealing with impulses and negative internal experiences. Conclusions These results seem to suggest the efficacy of BEfree and the benefit of integrating different components such as psychoeducation, mindfulness, and self‐compassion when treating BED in obese or overweight women. Key Practitioner Message The current study provides evidence of the acceptability of a psychoeducation, mindfulness, and compassion program for binge eating in obesity (BEfree); Developing mindfulness and self‐compassionate skills is an effective way of diminishing binge eating, eating psychopathology and depression, and increasing quality of life in women with obesity; Integrating psychoeducation, mindfulness, and compassion seem to be effective in diminishing binge eating, with results maintained up to 6‐month postintervention.

When thought suppression backfires: its moderator effect on eating psychopathology

Recently, several studies have pointed the importance of thought suppression as a form of experiential avoidance in different psychopathological conditions. Thought suppression may be conceptualized as an attempt to decrease or eliminate unwanted internal experiences. However, it encloses a paradoxical nature, making those thoughts hyper accessible and placing an extra burden on individuals. This avoidance process has been associated with several psychopathological conditions. However, its role in eating psychopathology remains unclear. The present study aims to explore the moderation effect of thought suppression on the associations between body image-related unwanted internal experiences (unfavorable social comparison through physical appearance and body image dissatisfaction) and eating psychopathology severity in a sample of 211 female students. Correlational analyses showed that thought suppression is associated with psychological inflexibility and eating disorders’ main risk factors and symptoms. Moreover, two independent analyses revealed that thought suppression moderates, as it amplifies, the impact of unfavorable social comparisons through physical appearance (model 1) and body image dissatisfaction (model 2) on disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. Hence, for the same level of these body-related internal experiences, young females who reveal higher levels of thought suppression present higher eating psychopathology. Taken together, these findings highlight the key role of thought suppression in eating psychopathology and present important clinical implications.

Can the impact of body dissatisfaction on disordered eating be weakened by one's decentering abilities?

Decentering has been defined as the ability to deal with thoughts and emotions as subjective and ephemeral inner events. Since it implies a non-judging and present focused attitude towards thoughts and emotions, decentering has been considered as an important protective process against psychopathology, as it has been empirically shown to decrease depressive relapse rates. Nevertheless, its role in eating disordered attitudes and behaviours has not been fully uncovered. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to explore the moderator effect of decentering on the relationship between eating psychopathology and one of its main risk factors, body image dissatisfaction. The sample comprised 279 female students, aged between 14 and 21 years-old. Results revealed that decentering abilities were negatively linked to body image dissatisfaction and to the global score of eating psychopathology. Through a path analysis, the buffer effect of decentering was confirmed. The findings suggest that the ability to take a non-judgmental and accepting stance towards internal experiences diminishes the impact of ones body dissatisfaction on disordered eating attitudes and behaviours. This study seems especially pertinent since it uncovers a mechanism to lessen the pervasive impact of body image dissatisfaction, which is highly prevalent in women from Western societies.

O efeito mediador da regulação emocional na relação entre a expressividade emocional da família de origem e as reacções maternas à expressão de emoções positivas das crianças

The fundamental role of the family, especially that of the parents, as the main agents of the socialization of emotions, has been highlighted throughout research. From an early onset, parental practices are a model for the identification and understanding of emotions, for learning the emotional expression and regulation strategies. This study examines the mediaton effect of the strategies for emotion regulation used by mothers of 169 children from 8 to 12 years, in the relation between their recollections of their family-of-origin expressiveness and the way they react to the positive emotional expressiveness of their children. We found evidence for the existence of a transgenerational effect on the process of socialization of emotions, in that the mother’s strategies for emotional regulation work as a mediation effect of the relation between the emotional expressiveness of the mother’s family-of-origin and the maternal reactions to the positive emotional expression of their children.

Validação das emoções na infância: vergonha, ansiedade e sintomatologia depressiva

Res_por:As emocoes sao cruciais na compreensao do funcionamento psicologico. Os estudos realizados acerca da forma como as emocoes assumem um papel preponderante na vida dos individuos, tendo por base as vivencias relacionais com as figuras parentais na infância, dizem respeito maioritariamente as memorias daquele periodo, recordadas e evocadas por individuos na vida adulta. Com o objectivo de estudar in loco a forma como as emocoes influenciam a vida dos individuos desde muito cedo (ainda durante a infância), realizou-se um conjunto de estudos numa amostra constituida por 188 criancas entre os 8 e os 12 anos de idade. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que maes percepcionadas como desaprovadoras das emocoes dos filhos desencadeiam nas suas criancas sentimentos de vergonha, sendo que o desenvolvimento desta emocao parece contribuir significativamente para a presenca de indices psicopatologicos, mais concretamente para a presenca de sintomas depressivos e ansiosos.