Daily Diary Study of Emotion, Motivation, and Eating Expectancies in Loss of Control Eating

Loss-of-control eating (LOCE) is a component of binge eating, which involves the subjective inability to refrain from eating or cease eating once started. LOCE behavior is highly prevalent and associated with adverse consequences, even without objective over-eating, and has also been found to be highly affect-driven. Affect-related eating motives, as well as eating expectancies, have also been found to be significant contributors to LOCE behavior in binge eating contexts. However, little is known about how motives and expectancies contribute to LOCE regardless of quantity of food eaten, much less the impact of motives on LOCE behaviors, or the role of expectancies on daily-level contributions to LOCE. The current study assessed the role of eating expectancies and motives on the relationship between affective states and LOCE behavior at the daily level. A national sample of United States (U.S.) adults (n = 109), who reported an average of two or more LOCE episodes per week, were recruited via social media for a ten-day dairy study. Participants completed two surveys per day regarding eating behaviors, affect, and eating motives. Data were analyzed at the within- and between-subject levels utilizing a Bayesian approach to examine pathways from mood to LOCE, mediated by eating motives and accounting for a moderating impact of trait-level eating expectancies measured at baseline. At the within-subjects level, negative mood predicted LOCE, a relationship that was partially mediated by coping motives. Between-subjects, coping motives fully mediated the relationship between negative mood and LOCE. Furthermore, an indirect effect between positive mood and LOCE was found at the within-subjects level, which was moderated by reward expectancy. This study provides useful insight into the role of daily-level motives and expectancies influencing LOCE behavior. Findings and directions for future research are discussed.