110 N. Carbonneau et al.
/ Body Image 33 (2020) 106–114
3. Results
3.1. Examining concordance between mothers’ and daughters’
BMI, self-compassion, body esteem, and emotional eating
Examination of intraclass correlations between mothers’ and
daughters’ scores revealed significant correlations for BMI (r = .522,
p < .001), self-compassion (r = .448, p < .001), body esteem (r = .245,
p < .05), and emotional eating (r = .522, p < .001), suggesting some
degree of concordance within dyads.
Paired t-tests were then conducted to compare mothers’ and
daughters’ levels of BMI, self-compassion, body esteem, and
emotional eating. As can be seen in Table 1, average BMI was signif-
icantly higher for mothers (M = 26.53, SD = 4.45) than for daughters
(M = 24.47, SD = 4.31), t(1,190) = 5.71, p < .001. Mothers (M = 3.47,
SD = 0.60) also showed higher levels of self-compassion than their
daughters (M = 3.04, SD = 0.60), t(1,190) = 8.29, p < .001, and lower
levels (M = 2.05, SD = 0.86) of emotional eating than their daughters
(M = 2.30, SD = 0.86), t(1,190) = −3.46, p < 001. Mothers (M = 3.21,
SD = 0.84) and daughters (M = 3.25, SD = 0.81) did not report signif-
icantly different levels of body esteem, t(1,190) = −0.61, p = .55.
3.2. Dyadic analyses
Dyadic analyses using APIM were conducted to examine
whether mothers’ and daughters’ levels of self-compassion were
linked to their own and each other’s emotional eating (see Table 3).
The APIM regression model used to test this hypothesis contained
four predictors: mothers’ and daughters’ BMI and self-compassion.
Two actor effects and one partner effect were observed. Specifi-
cally, daughters’ emotional eating was significantly and negatively
predicted by their own self-compassion (␤ = −.319, p < .001) as
well as by their mothers’ self-compassion (␤ = −.152, p < .05). Con-
versely, mothers’ emotional eating was significantly and negatively
predicted by their own self-compassion (␤ = −.288, p < .001) but
not by their daughters’ self-compassion (␤ = −.072, p = .317).
Second, we tested whether mothers’ and daughters’ body
esteem predicted their own and each other’s emotional eating (see
Table 4). The APIM regression model used to test this hypothesis
contained four predictors: mothers’ and daughters’ BMI and body
esteem. Two actor effects and one partner effect were observed.
Specifically, daughters’ emotional eating was significantly and neg-
atively predicted by their own body esteem (␤ = −.412, p < .001)
as well as by their mothers’ body esteem (␤ = −.174, p < .05). Con-
versely, mothers’ emotional eating was significantly and negatively
predicted by their own body esteem (␤ = −.466, p < .001) but not
by their daughters’ body esteem (␤ = −.059, p = .405).
3.3. Main analyses
In accordance with previous research on intergenerational
transmission of eating behaviors (Arroyo et al., 2017) and the above
dyadic analyses showing that mothers’ characteristics (i.e., self-
compassion and body esteem) significantly predicted daughters’
eating behavior whereas daughters’ characteristics did not signif-
icantly predict their mothers’ eating behavior, we specified a path
analysis model where the direction of effects goes from mothers to
daughters (Fig. 1). The tested model provided a satisfactory over-
all fit to the data. The chi-square value was non-significant, ␹2 (df =
14, N = 191) = 15.30, p = .358, and other fit indices were adequate:
NFI = .97, NNFI = .99, GFI = .98, CFI = .99, SRMR = .04, and RMSEA = .02
[.00; .08].
The standardized solution of the final model is presented in
Fig. 2. First, intrapersonal associations were examined for mothers.
Mothers’ self-compassion positively predicted their body esteem
(␤ = 0.525, 95 % CI [0.417; 0.634], p = .001), which negatively pre-
dicted emotional eating (␤ = −0.492, 95 % CI [−0.637; −0.343], p =
.001). These associations were found while controlling for mothers’
BMI, which negatively predicted their body esteem (␤ = −0.488, 95
% CI [−0.587; −0.357], p = .005), but did not significantly predict
self-compassion (␤ = −0.093, 95 % CI [−0.245; 0.058], p = .208) nor
emotional eating (␤ = 0.047, 95 % CI [−0.106; 0.214], p = .547).
Second, intrapersonal associations were examined for daugh-
ters. Daughters’ self-compassion positively predicted their body
esteem (␤ = 0.527, 95 % CI [0.412; 0.613], p = .003), which nega-
tively predicted emotional eating (␤ = −0.399, 95 % CI [−0.529;
−0.254], p = .003). These associations were found while controlling
for daughters’ BMI, which negatively predicted their body esteem
(␤ = −0.439, 95 % CI [−0.549; −0.325], p = .002) but did not signifi-
cantly predict self-compassion (␤ = 0.005, 95 % CI [−0.107; 0.109],
p = .943) nor emotional eating (␤ = 0.018, 95 % CI [−0.116; 0.143],
p = .787).
Third, interpersonal associations were examined. Mothers’ and
daughters’ BMI (␤ = 0.353, 95 % CI [0.224; 0.476], p = .002), self-
compassion (␤ = 0.288, 95 % CI [0.164; 0.408], p = .002), and
emotional eating (␤ = 0.309, 95 % CI [0.184; 0.419], p = .002) were
positively related. Mothers’ and daughters’ body esteem were not
significantly related (␤ = −0.016, 95 % CI [−0.123; 0.088], p = .799).
We also tested an alternative model with different directional-
ities where the paths from mothers’ to daughters’ variables were
reversed. The chi-square value for this model was non-significant,
␹2 (df = 14, N = 191) = 21.01, p = .101, and other fit indices were
adequate: NFI = .95, NNFI = .97, GFI = .97, CFI = .98, SRMR = .06, and
RMSEA = .05 [.00; .09]. This model provided a satisfactory overall
fit to the data, but the fit indices of the initial model were slightly
better. In addition, the Akaike’s Information Criterion of the initial
model (i.e., −12.70) was lower than that of the alternative model
(i.e., −6.991), which suggests that the former has a better fit and
should be preferred.
3.4. Indirect effects
Bootstrap analyses were performed to examine whether body
esteem mediated the negative relation between self-compassion
and emotional eating. As can be seen in Table 5, the analyses
revealed that mothers’ body esteem significantly mediated the neg-
ative relation between their self-compassion and emotional eating
(bootstrapping point estimate = −.259, 95 % CI [−.354 – −.171],
p = .01). In addition, daughters’ body esteem significantly mediated
the negative relation between their self-compassion and emotional
eating (bootstrapping point estimate = −.210, 95 % CI [−.300 –
−.127], p < .01).
Bootstrap analyses were also performed to examine whether
mothers’ and daughters’ characteristics mediated the negative rela-
tion between mothers’ self-compassion and daughters’ emotional
eating. To distinguish the indirect effect through these two paths,
the phantom model approach was used (see Macho & Ledermann,
2011). In other words, the specific indirect effect of mothers’ self-
compassion on daughters’ emotional eating through mothers’ body
esteem and emotional eating could be examined by constraining to
zero the paths from mothers’ self-compassion to daughters’ emo-
tional eating through daughters’ self-compassion and body esteem,
and vice versa. As can be seen in Table 5, analyses revealed that
mothers’ body esteem and emotional eating significantly medi-
ated the negative relation between mothers’ self-compassion and
daughters’ emotional eating (bootstrapping point estimate = −.089,
95 % CI [−.142 – −.050], p < .01). In addition, daughters’ self-
compassion and body esteem significantly mediated the negative
relation between mothers’ self-compassion and daughters’ emo-
tional eating (bootstrapping point estimate = −.066, 95 % CI [-.113
– −.035], p < .01). These results suggest that daughters of self-
compassionate mothers are less prone to emotional eating because