Diet Culture Beliefs, Co-Rumination, Intuitive Eating, and Experiences of Internalized Weight Stigma in the Adjustment to College Among Emerging Adult Women

Adjustment to college is an important predictor of college success and thriving, and various factors—including conflicting beliefs about diet, exercise, and body image—influence female students’ ability to adjust. Previous scholarship illustrates the pervasive nature of diet culture beliefs and its resulting negative psychosocial outcomes. Young women participate in and encourage diet culture beliefs by engaging in body-specific co-rumination, especially within their same-sex friendships. Contrarily, intuitive eating is a healthier alternative to diet culture that results in various positive outcomes. As such, the purpose of this study was to explore how diet culture beliefs, body-specific co-rumination, and intuitive eating influence women’s adjustment to college through their effects on friendship satisfaction and internalized weight stigma. Results highlight that interpersonal experiences like body-specific co-rumination as well as the sociocultural pressures related to a person’s body, dieting, and exercise habits affect their perception of stigma and, ultimately, their adjustment to college.