A daily diary study of self-compassion and adaptive coping behaviours in women with symptoms of bulimia nervosa

Abstract

Plain English summary There is a call in the eating disorder field to identify factors that not only reduce eating disorder symptoms, but also promote positive mental health. Yet, the factors that interventions might target to accomplish both of these goals remain relatively unknown. Self-compassion, which is a way of responding to personal distress with care and understanding, has been linked to fewer eating disorder symptoms. In non-eating disorder populations, self-compassion also promotes adaptive coping behaviours, including problem-solving and calling on others for support, key aspects of mental health. To test whether these benefits of self-compassion extend to people with eating disorders, we had women with symptoms of bulimia nervosa complete questionnaires about their daily level of self-compassion and their daily adaptive coping behaviours every night for 2 weeks. We found that on days when women were more self-compassionate than usual or more self-compassionate than the day before, they reported using more adaptive coping strategies. Further, individuals who were generally more self-compassionate than others over the 2 weeks reported receiving more social support from others. Our results are the first to suggest that, by treating themselves with compassion, individuals with eating disorder symptoms may cope more effectively with challenges in daily life.

Keywords

• Bulimia nervosa
• Daily diary
• Multilevel modeling
• Self-compassion
• Mental health
• Adaptive coping