Bouncing back with bliss: nurturing body image and embracing intuitive eating in the postpartum: a cross-sectional replication study

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant characteristics (N = 163).

	n	M	SD
Age (years)	120	33.61	4.59
Child Age (weeks)	162	78.27	53.40
BMI^a	156	25.85	5.35
IES-28^b	163	3.22	0.64
BSQ-16A^c	163	46.52	16.11
EAT-26^d	157	8.25	8.29
EPDS^e	153	9.55	5.94
	n			%
Location Australia/New Zealand	144			88
United States	15			9
United Kingdom	4			2
Residential Area Suburban	93			57
Urban	37			23
Rural	33			20
Relationship Status Partnered	151			93
Unpartnered	12			7
Weekly Household Income Over $2000	76			47
Between $600 and $2000	83			51
Under $600	4			3
Highest Education Level High School/TAFE	49			30
Undergraduate	66			41
Postgraduate	48			29
Employment Status Homemaker	49			30
Student	11			7
Part-time	54			33
Full-time	49			30
Number of Children One	79			49
Two	60			37
Three	19			12
Four or More	5			3
Check Social Media
Every Hour	33			20
Every Day	120			74
Every Second Day	4			3
Every Few Days	1			1
Favourite Social Media Platform
Facebook	38			23
X	2			1
Instagram	104			64
LinkedIn	1			1
TikTok	8			5
Snapchat	1			1
YouTube	4			3
Number of Mumfluencers Followed
None	46			28
One	9			6
Two	25			16
Three	12			8
Four or More	67			41
Open-Ended Questions
What it is about ‘Mumfluencers’ that make you feel this way about your body?	93
What is your favourite thing about being a Mum?	135
What is your least favourite thing about being a Mum?	135
Please tell us how you felt about your body image before the pregnancy of your first child.	134
	n
Please tell us how you feel about your body image now.	135
Do you think social media has a good or bad influence on your body image?	134
How do you think your attitude towards food has changed since the birth of your child/children	133
How do you think your mental health has changed since the birth of your child/children	135
Is there anything else you would like to share about your body image, eating attitudes, and mental health as the mother of a young child?	85

^aBMI = Body Mass Index, ^bIES-28 = Intuitive Eating Scale, ^cBSQ= Body Shape Questionnaire, ^dEAT-26 = Eating Attitudes Test, ^eEPDS = Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.

Table 2. Correlation coefficients for predictors and outcome variable.

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
1. IES-28^a	–
2. BSQ-16A^b	−.80**	–
3. EAT-26^c	−.50**	.57**	–
4. EPDS^d	−.30**	.47**	.36**	–
5. Age	−.10	.10	−.03	−.08	–
6. BM^Ie	−.42**	.31**	.17*	.08	.04	–
7. Location^rs	.10	−.22*	−.08	−.08	.01	−.15	–
8. Residential area^rs	.07	−.09	−.06	−.05	−.05	.16	.-.01	–
9. Relationship^rs	−.05	.08	−.12	.10	−.03	.06	−.17	.01	–
10. Income^rs	−.04	−.01	−.01	.06	.14	−.06	.07	−.05	.14	–
11. Education^rs	.09	−.20**	−.10	−.09	.18	−.01	.26**	−.08	−.25**	.12	−
12. Employment^rs	−.17*	.11	.18*	.05	.03	−.05	.28**	−.04	−.08	−.19*	.15	–
13. Children^rs	−.11	.12	.01	.10	.38**	−.05	.01	.12	−.05	.10	−.21*	–.18*

**p < .001, *p < .05. ^aIES-28 = Intuitive Eating Scale, ^bBSQ-16A = Body Shape Questionnaire, ^cEAT-26 = Eating Attitudes Test, ^dEPDS = Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, ^eBMI = Body Mass Index, ^rsSpearman’s correlations.

Table 3. Hierarchical multiple linear regression with unstandardised (B) and standardised (b) Coefficients (n = 163).

		95% CI for B
Model	B	LL	UL	SE B	b	sr^2	AdjR^2	DR^2
Step 1							.19**	.19**
Constant	4.78**	4.25	5.31	0.27
BMI^a	−0.06**	−0.80	−0.04	0.01	0.44**	0.19
Step 2							.37**	.19**
Constant	4.90**	4.42	5.38	0.24
BMI^a	−0.05**	−0.06	−0.03	0.01	−0.34**	0.11
EAT26^b	−0.04**	−0.06	−0.03	0.01	−0.36**	0.11
EPDS^c	−0.02	−0.04	0.01	0.01	−0.18**	0.03
Step 3							.67**	.29**
Constant	5.26**	4.90	5.61	0.18
BMI^a	−0.03**	−0.04	−0.01	0.01	−0.20**	0.04
EAT26 ^b	−0.01	−0.02	0.01	0.01	−0.03	0.01
EPDS^c	0.01	0.01	0.02	0.01	0.07	0.01
BSQ-16A^d	−0.03**	−0.02	−0.02	0.01	−0.75**	0.29

**p < .001, CI = Confidence Intervals. ^aBMI = Body Mass Index, ^bEAT-26 = Eating Attitudes Test, ^cEPDS = Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, ^dBSQ-16A = Body Shape Questionnaire.

Figure 1. Standardised regression coefficients for mediation of EAT-26 and IES-28 by BSQ-16A.

Mediation figure containing the pathway relationship in three boxes including eating attitudes as the predictor variable, intuitive eating as the outcome variable and body image as the mediator.

Note. CI = Confidence Intervals. IES-28 = Intuitive Eating Scale, EAT-26 = Eating Attitudes Test, BSQ-16A = Body Shape Questionnaire.

Figure 2. Standardised regression coefficients for mediation of EPDS and IES-28 by BSQ-16A.

Mediation figure containing the pathway relationship in three boxes including postnatal depression as the predictor variable, intuitive eating as the outcome variable and body image as the mediator.

Note. CI = Confidence Intervals. IES-28 = Intuitive Eating Scale, EAT-26 = Eating Attitudes Test, BSQ-16A = Body Shape Questionnaire.

Table 4. Mediation model coefficients for EAT-26, BSQ and IES-28.

Variable	B [95% CI]
DV = BSQ^a (R^2 = .33)** Constant	36.04 [30.68, 41.39]
EAT-26^b	1.39 [0.59, 2.19]
DV = IES-28^c (R^2 = .63)** Constant	4.69 [4.48, 4.89]
EAT-26 ^b	−0.01 [−0.01, 0.01]
BSQ^a	−0.03 [−0.04, −0.03]

**p < .001, CI = Confidence Intervals. ^aBSQ = Body Shape Questionnaire, ^bEAT-26 = Eating Attitudes Test, ^cIES-28 = Intuitive Eating Scale.

Table 5. Mediation model coefficients for EPDS, BSQ and IES-28.

Variable	B [95% CI]
DV = BSQ^a (R^2 = .24)** Constant	32.53 [27.93, 37.13]
EPDS^b	1.43 [0.94, 1.91]
DV = IES-28^c (R^2 = .63)** Constant	4.68 [4.47, 4.89]
EPDS ^b	−0.01 [−0.01, 0.02]
BSQ^a	−0.03 [−0.04, −0.03]

**p < .001, CI = Confidence Intervals. ^aBSQ = Body Shape Questionnaire, ^bEPDS = Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, ^cIES-28 = Intuitive Eating Scale.