Predictors of Intuitive Eating in Adolescent Girls

Purpose To examine proposed predictors of intuitive eating, including social appearance comparison, and to test a modified acceptance model of intuitive eating in adolescent girls. Methods Participants were 400 adolescent girls aged 12–16 years who completed measures of body acceptance by others, self-objectification, social appearance comparison, body appreciation, and intuitive eating. Results Correlations showed that all proposed predictors were related to intuitive eating in the expected direction. In particular, social appearance comparison was negatively related to body appreciation and intuitive eating. After controlling for other predictors, social appearance comparison was shown to explain unique variance in intuitive eating. Using structural equation modeling, an integrated modified acceptance model of intuitive eating yielded an overall good fit to the data. Mediation analyses showed that there was a significant indirect effect of body acceptance by others on both body appreciation and intuitive eating through social appearance comparison and self-objectification. Conclusions The findings extend the acceptance model of intuitive eating to adolescent girls but also identify social comparison as an important mechanism in this process. Practically, the findings highlight several areas that may be targeted to foster adaptive eating patterns in girls.