Co-Rumination of Fat Talk and Weight Control Practices: An Application of Confirmation Theory

ABSTRACT

Grounded in confirmation theory, the current research sought to explore the relationship between co-rumination of fat talk and weight control practices (i.e., binging and purging, exercising, and healthy eating behaviors), with a particular interest in whether perceptions of friends’ responses during these interactions exacerbate or mitigate this relationship. Female friendship dyads completed online questionnaires at three time points across 2 weeks. Multilevel modeling analyses revealed that (a) co-rumination was positively associated with binging and purging and exercising, (b) women who perceived their friends as accepting reported less binging and purging, more exercising, and more healthy eating behaviors, (c) acceptance and challenge interacted to predict binging and purging, (d) acceptance moderated the relationships between co-rumination and binging and purging, and (e) challenge moderated the relationship between co-rumination and healthy eating behaviors.

Notes

¹ The original version of this scale also included items that assessed challenging women’s perceptions of self (e.g., “After I mention something about my body/weight, helps me realize how attractive I really am”). Given the criterion variables of interest in the current study, only items that measured friends’ challenging behaviors were utilized in the current analyses.

² The three-way interaction of co-rumination, acceptance, and challenge was assessed in a separate model but did not yield significant results for any of the three criterion variables.