relationships of attitudes toward eating and eating behaviors with invalidating childhood environment in adults: the mediating role of self-compassion, distress tolerance, and impulsivity

Objective: eating disorders (eds) are prevalent in adulthood and often originate in adolescence, influenced by various psychological factors, including childhood experiences. this research investigated how self-compassion, distress tolerance, and impulsivity function as mediators between early experiences of emotional invalidation during childhood and individuals’ eating patterns and attitudes in adulthood.method: the study involved 1,217 students (86.2% female), recruited through convenience sampling. participants completed standardized questionnaires assessing eating behaviors, eating attitudes, self-compassion, distress tolerance, and impulsivity. the proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling (sem).results: impulsivity and self-compassion significantly mediated the relationship between childhood invalidation and both eating behavior (β = 0.161, p < 0.05) and eating attitude (β = 0.077, p < 0.01). distress tolerance did not serve as a significant mediator in the model. invalidating childhood environment was directly related to impulsivity (β = 0.303, p < 0.001) and self-compassion (β = -0.350, p < 0.001). self-compassion and impulsivity were significant predictors of eating behavior and attitudes.conclusion: childhood experiences of invalidation contribute to maladaptive eating behaviors and attitudes through the mediating roles of impulsivity and self-compassion. notably, impulsivity had a stronger indirect effect on both outcomes compared to self-compassion. the results indicate that fostering self-compassion and managing impulsive tendencies may serve as important focal points for interventions designed to prevent or treat eating disorders.