Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42011975›Full record

ArticleEuropean eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association2026

Longitudinal Associations of Body Image Flexibility With Eating Disorder Psychopathology, Eating-Related Psychosocial Impairment, and Psychological Distress in Chinese Cisgender Men and Women.

Peiyi Wang, Yueyang Xiao, Yunyi Cheng, Reza N Sahlan, Wesley R Barnhart, Jason M Nagata, Jinbo He

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In one paragraph

Article in European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Peiyi WangDepartment of Psychological Science, College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2276-1287
Yueyang XiaoDepartment of Biosciences and Bioinformatics, School of Science, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8347-9849
Yunyi ChengDepartment of Biosciences and Bioinformatics, School of Science, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5054-2299
Reza N SahlanDepartment of Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology, Graduate School of Education, University at Buffalo-SUNY, Buffalo, New York, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8842-1747
Wesley R BarnhartDepartment of Psychology, Suffolk University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9809-5225
Jason M NagataDivision of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6541-0604
Jinbo HeDepartment of Biosciences and Bioinformatics, School of Science, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2785-9371

Funding

Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission 2023SC0028
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveBody image flexibility is a clinically relevant protective process linked to lower eating disorder psychopathology and better psychological functioning, yet its longitudinal role in shaping psychological risk and resilience remains unclear, particularly across women and men in non-Western contexts. This study examined its bidirectional associations with thinness- and muscularity-oriented disordered eating, eating-related psychosocial impairment, and psychological distress among Chinese adults.

methodChinese adults completed baseline (N = 800; 400 women and 400 men) and eight-month follow-up (N = 491; 246 women and 245 men) online surveys. Cross-lagged panel models were used to examine bidirectional associations.

resultsHigher body image flexibility at T1 was related to lower levels of thinness-oriented disordered eating, muscularity-oriented disordered eating, eating-related psychosocial impairment, and psychological distress at T2. Conversely, higher levels of thinness-oriented disordered eating, muscularity-oriented disordered eating, eating-related psychosocial impairment, and psychological distress at T1 were related to lower body image flexibility at T2. These bidirectional associations were consistent across women and men. DISCUSSION: Body image flexibility can function both as a protective resource and as a process susceptible to psychological strain. Intervention efforts should be gender inclusive and target multidimensional forms of eating disorder psychopathology alongside psychological well-being.

Indexed as

Body ImageFeeding and Eating DisordersPsychological DistressPsychosocial FunctioningStress, PsychologicalAdolescentAdultChinaEast Asian PeopleFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleThinnessYoung Adultbody image flexibilityChinese populationeating‐related psychosocial impairmentlongitudinalmuscularity‐oriented disordered eatingpsychological distressthinness‐oriented disordered eating

Identifiers

PMID42011975
PMCPMC13432596

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.