Emotion Dysregulation and Eating Disorder Symptoms: Examining Distinct Associations and Interactions in Adolescents

Emotion dysregulation has been posited as a key transdiagnostic factor of mental health difficulties, including eating disorders. However, how this transdiagnostic factor interacts with the disorder-specific factor of weight and shape concerns remains unclear. The current study examined whether emotion dysregulation is associated with eating disorder behaviors over and above the association between weight and shape concerns and whether these two factors interacted. The current study used data from two samples, a community sample of high school students (n = 2699), and a clinical sample of adolescents receiving outpatient treatment for an eating disorder (n = 149). Participants completed self-report measures on their eating behaviors, weight/shape concerns, and emotion dysregulation. Findings showed that emotion dysregulation had a unique association with engaging in binge eating and purging (community sample only). Weight and shape concerns were found to have a unique association with engaging in binge eating, fasting, purging, and driven exercise (community sample only). Additionally, weight and shape concerns moderated the association between emotion dysregulation and the probability of engaging in binge eating and driven exercise, whereby the strongest association between emotion dysregulation and these behaviors were observed among adolescents with the lowest levels of weight and shape concerns. Regarding the frequency of eating disorder behaviors, emotion dysregulation had a unique association with severity of binge eating and fasting. Weight and shape concerns were uniquely associated with severity of fasting and driven exercise (community sample only). Findings suggest that emotion dysregulation is a distinct factor of eating disorder behaviors among adolescents.

The association between problematic Internet use, eating disorder behaviors, and well-being among Palestinian university students

Objectives The current study aimed to test the correlation between problematic Internet use, eating disorder behaviors, and well-being among Palestinian university students. Methods To examine the relationship between the study variables, a correlational study was conducted. The geographical representation of the study sample showed that 48.1% of participants were from urban populations, 48.1% were from rural villages, and 3.8% were from internally displaced people’s camps. Results Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to test the relationship between problematic Internet use, eating disorder behaviors, and well-being. Results showed that problematic Internet use was negatively correlated to well-being (r = − .32, p < .01), and positively correlated to eating disorder behaviors (r = .39, p < .01). The regression analysis found that problematic Internet use contributes statistically and significantly towards explaining variance in eating disorder behaviors (B = .46, SE = .08, β = .32). Moreover, well-being contributed in a way that was statistically significant towards explaining variance in eating disorders behaviors (B = − .39, SE = .09, β = − .25). Conclusion The results of our study support previous studies that indicated that problematic Internet use was significantly and positively correlated with eating disorder behaviors, while it was significantly and negatively correlated to well-being among Palestinian university students. Further studies testing this relationship will be crucial in developing interventions to both reduce problematic Internet use and eating disorder behaviors and increase well-being among university students.

Learned Industriousness as a Translational Mechanism of Excess Goal Pursuit: An Example in Eating Disorders

Researchers have long grappled to understand the persistence of behaviors that are non-hedonic and, ostensibly, aversive. At times, such behaviors can be taken to excess in the form of psychopathology. Eating disorders characterize a prototype of psychiatric disorders in which behaviors that most people find unpleasant (e.g., restrictive eating, excessive exercise) are rigidly and repeatedly performed. The learned industriousness theory, which has roots in behavioral neuroscience, provides a theoretical account for such phenomena. Informed by humans and animal data, this theory posits that effort (intense physical or mental activity) can be conditioned to acquire secondary rewarding properties through repeatedly pairing high-effort behavior with reward. Over time, effort sensations would become less aversive and more appetitive because they signal impending reward, increasing eagerness to engage in effortful behavior. In this manuscript we: 1) review biobehavioral data supporting learned industriousness; 2) highlight evidence that this theory may account for persistence of certain eating disorder behaviors; and 3) consider clinical and research implications of this model, including the translation to other psychiatric presentations.

The Relationship Between SNS Usage and Disordered Eating Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis

Social Networking Sites (SNSs) are common tools with which modern people share their lives and establish social relationships. However, some studies have found SNSs to be associated with eating disorders, although other have identified no connection between the two. To explore the interaction between SNSs and eating disorder behaviors, this study aimed to comprehensively synthesize previous studies using meta-analysis methods. Based on selection criteria, there were 87 effect sizes from 22 studies. After analysis using a three-level random-effects meta-analysis model, a positive correlation between the use of SNSs and irregular eating behaviors was found, r = 0.09 (95% CI: 0.06, 0.11; p &lt; 0.001). In addition, by analyzing potential moderators, body mass index (r = −0.032; 95% CI: −0.058, −0.006; p = 0.019), survey methods, and sample sources was discovered could alter the relationship between SNSs and disordered eating behaviors. Specifically, there was a significantly larger association between SNSs results obtained by paper and pencil surveys and disordered eating behaviors (r = 0.114; 95% CI: 0.081, 0.147; p &lt; 0.001) than that between SNSs results obtained by online surveys and disordered eating behaviors (r = −0.055; 95% CI: −0.102, −0.007; p &lt; 0.01). University students showed a larger correlation between SNSs and disordered eating behavior than other samples (r = 0.089; 95% CI: 0.049, 0.129; p &lt; 0.001). Overall, this meta-analysis confirms that the excessive use of SNSs is associated with an increased risks of disordered eating behaviors. It is hoped that this study can provide a reference for the management and intervention of dietary behaviors related to social networks in the future.