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PURPOSE:Mindful eating and intuitive eating are promoted as means to circumvent potentially maladaptive dietary restraint while maintaining a healthy weight. Although theoretically related, no studies have examined the correlations between intuitive eating, mindful eating, and restraint in the same sample. This study sought to examine these constructs and their correlations with body mass index (BMI), eating-disordered behaviors, and meal consumption in a college sample. METHODS: Participants (N = 125) completed a laboratory taste-test meal and measures of each eating-related construct using the EDDS, IES, MEQ, and TFEQ-Restraint Subscale. RESULTS: Mindful eating, intuitive eating, and restraint were not strongly correlated. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that restraint and intuitive eating accounted for significant variance in disordered eating and BMI. Elevated restraint was associated with increased BMI and disordered eating; elevated intuitive eating was associated with decreased BMI and disordered eating. Mindful eating did not correlate with any outcome variables. Follow-up analyses suggested that specific intuitive eating subscales accounted for unique variance in the relation between intuitive eating and disordered eating. Intuitive eating was the only construct that was significantly associated with meal consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Intuitive eating and restraint appear to be only weakly correlated, and each is differentially associated with meal consumption. Mindful eating does not appear to relate to outcome variables.

Studies have shown that dispositional mindfulness, a construct characterized by awareness and attention to present moment experiences, is associated with body image constructs in women. However, little is known about the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and body image among men. Therefore, this study examined the unique associations between dispositional mindfulness and three body image variables in men: overall appearance evaluation, satisfaction with distinct body areas, and drive for muscularity. Undergraduate men (N=296) completed the Multidimensional Body Self-Relations Questionnaire-Appearance Scales, the Drive for Muscularity Scale, the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. A series of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that mindfulness was uniquely associated with all three body image variables after accounting for body mass index and negative affect. Results are discussed with regard to the potential role of dispositional mindfulness in body dissatisfaction among men.