The Role of Interoceptive Awareness in an Eating Disorders Prevention Program Open Access

Abstract

Abstract

The Role of Interoceptive Awareness in an Eating Disorders Prevention Program
By Amanda Joelle Brown

Interoceptive awareness (IA), defined as sensitivity to stimuli originating within the
body, is a construct that has been implicated in the development and maintenance of
disordered eating behaviors. IA encompasses recognition and accurate identification of
both appetite signals and emotional cues, but no study to date has examined the
individual contributions of these two aspects of IA. The purpose of the current study is
to evaluate appetite awareness (AA) and emotional awareness (EA) as potential
mediators of outcome in the Support for Healthy Eating and Exercise program
(SHEE; Smith, 2007), a five-week intervention for at-risk college women. SHEE was
designed to teach women to use internal appetite signals to guide eating as a way to
decrease disordered eating behaviors and prevent weight gain. Following the model
proposed by Baron and Kenny (Baron & Kenny, 1986), a series of regression analyses
was carried out to test the mediator effects of AA and EA. Results indicated that AA fully
mediated improvements in binge eating symptoms as well as eating- and weight-control
self-efficacy, whereas EA did not. These results support the utility of directly targeting
AA in a brief eating disorders prevention program.

The Role of Interoceptive Awareness in an Eating Disorders Prevention Program
By
Amanda Joelle Brown
A.B., Princeton University, 2006
Advisor: Linda W. Craighead, Ph.D.
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the
James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts in Psychology
2010

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Background and Significance 1
Research Design and Method 7
Results 12
Discussion 15
Appendix 20
References 21

About this Master's Thesis

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Psychology
Subfield / Discipline	Clinical Psychology
Degree	MA
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Clinical Psychology, General
Keyword	Prevention Eating disorders Appetite awareness
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Craighead, Linda, Emory University
Committee Members	Brennan, Patricia, Emory University Nygaard, Lynne, Emory University

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