The mediating role of appearance comparisons on the relationship between negative appearance commentary and binge eating symptoms

Social comparison, disordered eating, and body dissatisfaction among postpartum women

“…The unanticipated finding related to the inverse relationship between body comparison and binge eating is difficult to interpret. Currently, the finding suggests that as body comparison increases, the expected rate of binge eating decreases by 3% among postpartum women who endorsed binge eating -which is the opposite direction of what we predicted, what theory suggests (Festinger, 1954), and what prior literature demonstrates (Herbozo et al, 2017;Jackson & Chen, 2010). However, when evaluated as the sole source of comparison in the model estimating the expected rate of binge eating, body comparison was significant and positively associated with the rate of binge eating (IRR = 1.03, SE = .004, z = 6.97, p < .001).…”