Abstract
Body image is a powerful multidimensional construct linked to physical and psychological health consequences, and previous research has demonstrated that the emotional regulation strategies one utilizes may be related to managing body dissatisfaction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which emotional regulation strategies collectively and individually explain various dimensions of body image. A sample of 316 participants completed a cross-sectional online survey comprised of demographic questions, the IPAQ (Cheng, 2016), MBSRQ-AS (Cash, 2000), BIQ; (Cash & Szymanski, 1995), BICSI (Cash et al., 2005), and the CERQ (Garnefski et al., 2021). Mplus software was used to examine the relationships between emotional regulation strategies and body image factors using path analysis. Results revealed that emotional regulation explained a relatively moderate amount of variance of each of the seven body image dimensions examined (R² = 0.05 – 0.71). Appearance fixing and self-blame were the most highly correlated strategies, repeatedly linked with positive body image in terms of weight preoccupation, while oppositely associated with negative body image on measures of body importance. Avoidance and reappraisal were consistently positive strategies, while rumination was repeatedly associated with negative body image. These results demonstrate the complex relationships between emotional regulation and body image, highlighting that some strategies such as rumination should be avoided, while others warrant future research to determine their effective implementation in managing body image concerns.
