The mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between mentalization and emotional eating in overweight women

The aim of the present study was to investigate the mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between mentalization and emotional eating. The research method was descriptive-correlation based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population consists of overweight women with the age range of 20-50 years in the universities of Tehran city in the academic year 2022-2023. A total of 496 people were selected as a sample using the available sampling method. The research tools were: Emotional Eating Scale (EES) by Arnow et al. (1995), the Short Form of Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-SF) by Raes et al. (2011), and the Mindfulness Questionnaire (MQ) by Fonagy et al. (1998). Structural equation analysis was used to analyze the data. The results showed the optimal fit of the research model. The results showed that the components of mindfulness (assurance and uncertainty) do not have a significant direct effect on women's emotional overeating (P>0.05), but they have a significant indirect effect on emotional eating through self-compassion (P<0.05). These results show that self-compassion, considering the role of mentalization, can explain emotional eating in overweight women.