The relationships between mindfulness, eating disorders, alexithymia, emotion regulation, and self-consciousness: A mediational model

In recent research the construct of eating disorders has received much attention. Disordered eating attitudes and behaviors have been associated with high levels of self-consciousness, social anxiety, difficulty regulating emotions and critical self-judgment. The current study was an examination of the mediational effects of mindfulness on the relationships between disordered eating and the following: alexithymia, difficulty regulating emotions, public self-consciousness, internal state awareness, self-reflectiveness, and social anxiety. Participants were 142 females from the general population, Marywood University, and the Eating Disorders Unit of the University Medical Center at Princeton in New Jersey. Results of meditational analyses revealed that mindfulness is a significant partial mediator between disordered eating and alexithymia, public self-consciousness, self-reflectiveness and social anxiety. Results revealed that mindfulness is a complete mediator between disordered eating and internal state awareness. Strengths and limitations of the study are discussed.