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Abstract
Experiential avoidance, the refusal to accept contact with unpleasant private experiences,
is believed to play a role in the onset and maintenance of eating disorders. Preliminary
evidence suggests that mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions that reduce
avoidance may be effective in treating disordered eating behaviors. The purpose of
the current investigation was to examine whether one form of experiential avoidance
(thought suppression) and the theoretically opposing construct of dispositional mindfulness
are associated with bulimic symptoms. Undergraduate men (n=219) and women (n=187)
completed questionnaires assessing mindful attention and awareness, chronic thought
suppression, and bulimic symptoms. A series of hierarchical regression analyses revealed
that thought suppression and mindfulness accounted for unique variance in bulimic
symptoms among men and women after accounting for BMI. Results are discussed in terms
of the role of dispositional mindfulness and thought suppression in disordered eating.