Effortful control as a moderator in the association between punishment and reward sensitivity and eating styles in adolescent boys and girls.

The reactive traits of Sensitivity to Punishment (SP) and Sensitivity to Reward (SR) are assumed to be involved in the development of Eating Disorders (EDs). Most studies examine whether levels of these traits differ between ED diagnoses, without taking other variables into account. However, vulnerability theories of psychopathology posit that the risk for psychopathology depends on the interaction between reactive traits and self-regulatory traits such as Effortful Control (EC). As such, the present objective was to examine the moderating role of EC in the association between SP, SR and the eating styles restrained eating, emotional eating and external eating as possible ED precursors in adolescents. To obtain this objective, a community sample of 252 adolescents (54.0% female) between 14 and 19 years old was recruited. Self-report questionnaires were used to measure the level of SP, SR, EC and eating styles. In a subsample (n = 46, 67.4% female), the Colour-Word Stroop task was conducted as an additional behavioural measure of EC. Hierarchic linear regressions were performed separately for boys and girls to examine the interactions between SP, SR and EC as well as gender differences between these interactions. There was some evidence for interactions between reactive and regulative traits in explaining restrained and emotional eating in girls. Also, several main effects of SP and SR were found in boys for all eating styles and in girls for restrained eating. The implications of these findings for future research and for screening and prevention programs are discussed.