Many bariatric weight loss surgery patients do not exercise after surgery. One potential reason this population may not exercise is due to body image shame and low self-compassion, which can contribute to lower appreciation for one’s body. Adult participants from an international bariatric population sample (N = 805) and an Eastern Washington University undergraduate student sample (N = 104) completed a one-time online questionnaire that included measures of self-compassion, physical activity frequency, body appreciation, and body image shame. In the bariatric sample, self-compassion was indirectly associated with exercise frequency via body appreciation and body image shame. Additionally, at the highest levels of self-compassion, exercise frequency was negatively impacted by the highest levels of body image shame. These results were not found in the undergraduate sample. Moving forward, interventions targeting self-compassion, body appreciation, and body image shame may help support members of the bariatric surgery population’s physical activity efforts.
","abstract_html":"<p>Many bariatric weight loss surgery patients do not exercise after surgery. One potential reason this population may not exercise is due to body image shame and low self-compassion, which can contribute to lower appreciation for one’s body. Adult participants from an international bariatric population sample (N = 805) and an Eastern Washington University undergraduate student sample (N = 104) completed a one-time online questionnaire that included measures of self-compassion, physical activity frequency, body appreciation, and body image shame. In the bariatric sample, self-compassion was indirectly associated with exercise frequency via body appreciation and body image shame. Additionally, at the highest levels of self-compassion, exercise frequency was negatively impacted by the highest levels of body image shame. These results were not found in the undergraduate sample. Moving forward, interventions targeting self-compassion, body appreciation, and body image shame may help support members of the bariatric surgery population’s physical activity efforts.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Teeter, Naomi"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: General/Experimental","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:16Z","subjects":["Experimental Analysis of Behavior","Health Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":["Access is available to all users"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/710","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Teeter, Naomi"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: General/Experimental"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Experimental Analysis of Behavior","Health Psychology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Access is available to all users"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/710"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Many bariatric weight loss surgery patients do not exercise after surgery. One potential reason this population may not exercise is due to body image shame and low self-compassion, which can contribute to lower appreciation for one’s body. Adult participants from an international bariatric population sample (N = 805) and an Eastern Washington University undergraduate student sample (N = 104) completed a one-time online questionnaire that included measures of self-compassion, physical activity frequency, body appreciation, and body image shame. In the bariatric sample, self-compassion was indirectly associated with exercise frequency via body appreciation and body image shame. Additionally, at the highest levels of self-compassion, exercise frequency was negatively impacted by the highest levels of body image shame. These results were not found in the undergraduate sample. Moving forward, interventions targeting self-compassion, body appreciation, and body image shame may help support members of the bariatric surgery population’s physical activity efforts.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Post-Bariatric surgery patients fail to exercise consistently: exploring the potential role of self-compassion"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Teeter, Naomi"],"dc:description.abstract":["Many bariatric weight loss surgery patients do not exercise after surgery. One potential reason this population may not exercise is due to body image shame and low self-compassion, which can contribute to lower appreciation for one’s body. Adult participants from an international bariatric population sample (N = 805) and an Eastern Washington University undergraduate student sample (N = 104) completed a one-time online questionnaire that included measures of self-compassion, physical activity frequency, body appreciation, and body image shame. In the bariatric sample, self-compassion was indirectly associated with exercise frequency via body appreciation and body image shame. Additionally, at the highest levels of self-compassion, exercise frequency was negatively impacted by the highest levels of body image shame. These results were not found in the undergraduate sample. Moving forward, interventions targeting self-compassion, body appreciation, and body image shame may help support members of the bariatric surgery population’s physical activity efforts.
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