Binge eating partially mediates the relationship between body image dissatisfaction and psychological distress in obese treatment seeking individuals

•Two groups of obese treatment seeking individuals were compared.•Obese participants reported different level of body image dissatisfaction (BID).•BID predicted poor self-esteem, quality of life and depression.•Binge eating mediated the relationship between BID and psychological distress.

IntroductionWe compared the binge eating pathway linking body image dissatisfaction (BID) and psychological distress of obese adults entering and not entering psychological treatment for their weight problems.Method90 obese participants seeking an integrated treatment (OB-IT) and 87 obese participants seeking only medical treatment (OB-MT) for their weight problems completed questionnaires on BID, binge eating and psychological well-being.ResultsOnly in the OB-IT group, binge eating behaviors mediated the relationship between BID and psychological distress.ConclusionsBoth BID and binge eating behaviors need to be addressed in the psychological and medical treatment for obesity to enhance psychological well-being.