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Body Image, Disordered Eating, and Psychological Functioning as Prospective Predictors of Inflexible Eating.

Tayarna Bolger¹, Mariel Messer¹

¹School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.

Journal of Clinical Psychology

|July 8, 2026

Summary

Fear of weight gain, muscularity-oriented disordered eating (MODE), and depressive symptoms predict inflexible eating in women. These findings highlight key psychological and behavioral precursors for early intervention strategies.

Keywords:

body image dietary restraint disordered eating longitudinal psychological functioning

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Eating Disorders
Clinical Psychology

Background:

Rigid dieting research often overlooks cognitive and emotional factors.
Inflexible eating, characterized by psychological inflexibility around eating rules and distress upon violation, is a relevant but understudied construct.
Prospective evidence on the predictors of inflexible eating is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine whether baseline body image facets, disordered eating behaviors, and psychological functioning predict inflexible eating.
To identify psychological and behavioral precursors of inflexible eating in women.

Main Methods:

A prospective study involving 1760 women (mean age 34.00 years).
Baseline measures (Time 1) included body image facets, disordered eating behaviors (binge eating, driven exercise, muscularity-oriented disordered eating [MODE]), and psychological functioning (depressive and anxiety symptoms).
Follow-up data (Time 2) were collected after 3 months from 1237 participants.

Main Results:

Bivariate analyses indicated that all baseline body image facets, poor psychological functioning, and disordered eating behaviors (except binge eating) predicted higher inflexible eating at follow-up.
Multivariate analyses revealed that fear of weight gain, MODE, and depressive symptoms uniquely predicted greater inflexible eating at Time 2.

Conclusions:

Fear of weight gain, muscularity-oriented disordered eating, and depressive symptoms are significant psychological and behavioral precursors of inflexible eating.
These identified predictors offer potential targets for early intervention and prevention efforts in disordered eating.