Psychological flexibility and self-concealment as predictors of disordered eating symptoms

The present cross-sectional study investigated whether self-concealment and psychological flexibility were uniquely associated with different facets of disordered eating (DE; i.e., dieting, bulimia/food preoccupation, and oral control) and whether these associations varied across gender. Participants included 621 female and 212 male college students, ages 18–24 years old. After controlling for age, ethnicity, and BMI, both self-concealment and psychological flexibility were uniquely related to dieting. Controlling for these demographic variables, psychological flexibility, but not self-concealment, was uniquely associated with bulimia/food preoccupation. Neither self-concealment nor psychological flexibility was uniquely associated with oral control. Finally, gender moderated the association between self-concealment and dieting, suggesting that self-concealment was relevant to dieting in the female group, but not in the male group. Limitations of the study and future directions are discussed.

► Self-concealment and psychological distress were uniquely associated with disordered eating. ► The study investigated if these processes were uniquely associated with different facets of disordered eating. ► Both processes were uniquely related to dieting and gender moderated the link between self-concealment and dieting.