TitleEating behaviors and negative affect in college women's everyday lives.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2014
AuthorsHeron, KE, Scott, SB, Sliwinski, MJ, Smyth, JM
JournalInt J Eat Disord
Volume47
Issue8
Pagination853-9
Date Published2014 Dec
ISSN1098-108X
KeywordsAdolescent, Affect, Fasting, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Feeding Behavior, Female, Humans, Hyperphagia, Models, Psychological, Surveys and Questionnaires, Young Adult
Abstract

<p><b>OBJECTIVE: </b>A growing body of research seeks to understand the relationship between mood and eating behaviors. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) methods provide a method for assessing these processes in natural settings. We used EMA to examine the relationship between mood and eating behaviors in everyday life among women with subclinical disordered eating behaviors.</p><p><b>METHOD: </b>Participants (N = 127, age M = 19.6 years, BMI M = 25.5) completed five daily EMA reports on palmtop computers for 1 week. Assessments included measures of negative affect (NA) and eating-related behavior during eating (eating large amounts of food, loss of control over eating, and restricting food intake) and noneating episodes (skip eating to control weight/shape). Time-lagged multilevel models tested mood-eating behavior relationships.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Higher NA did not precede any unhealthy eating and weight control behaviors. However, NA was higher when women reported eating large quantities of food, losing control over eating, and restricting food intake during their most recent eating episode, but not after skipping eating to control weight/shape.</p><p><b>DISCUSSION: </b>These findings elucidate the processes in daily life that may influence the development and maintenance of unhealthy eating and weight control behaviors that, in turn, can inform interventions.</p>

DOI10.1002/eat.22292
Alternate JournalInt J Eat Disord
PubMed ID24797029
PubMed Central IDPMC4223006
Grant ListF31 MH082564 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
F31MH0825-64 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States