Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
The Miriam Hospital/Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Int J Eat Disord. 2022 Oct;55(10):1390-1396. doi: 10.1002/eat.23808. Epub 2022 Sep 9.
Individuals with eating disorders (EDs) demonstrate difficulties with emotion regulation, and these difficulties have been associated with severity and maintenance of ED symptoms. Although emotion reactivity (i.e., the strength and duration of emotional experiences) is distinct from emotion regulation, few studies have examined emotion reactivity in the context of EDs. The purpose of the current study was to examine longitudinal associations between emotion reactivity and ED symptoms and impairment in individuals with EDs.
Individuals seeking outpatient ED treatment (N = 265) completed questionnaires assessing ED symptoms and severity, emotion reactivity, and emotion regulation difficulties at treatment intake and bi-monthly during treatment.
Individuals with anorexia nervosa or binge eating or purging presentations had higher emotion reactivity scores than a non-ED comparison group. Controlling for age, diagnosis, and emotion regulation difficulties, emotion reactivity was positively associated with ED severity, ED-related impairment, and loss of control eating severity. Moreover, emotion reactivity, but not emotion regulation difficulties, was associated with change in ED symptoms during treatment.
Findings support that emotion reactivity may differ based on ED presentations and may be an important correlate of ED symptom severity.
Emotion reactivity refers to the strength and duration of an emotional experience. This study found that higher emotion reactivity was related to greater eating disorder symptom severity and eating disorder-related impairment. It may be beneficial to consider the role of emotion reactivity in conceptualizations of eating disorders, particularly those characterized by binge eating or purging.
饮食失调（ED）个体表现出情绪调节困难，这些困难与 ED 症状的严重程度和维持有关。尽管情绪反应性（即情绪体验的强度和持续时间）与情绪调节不同，但很少有研究在 ED 背景下研究情绪反应性。本研究的目的是探讨 ED 个体的情绪反应性与 ED 症状和损伤之间的纵向关联。
寻求门诊 ED 治疗的个体（N=265）在治疗开始时和治疗期间每两个月完成一次问卷，评估 ED 症状和严重程度、情绪反应性和情绪调节困难。
厌食症、暴食或暴食-清除型 ED 个体的情绪反应性得分高于非 ED 对照组。控制年龄、诊断和情绪调节困难后，情绪反应性与 ED 严重程度、ED 相关损伤和失控进食严重程度呈正相关。此外，情绪反应性，而不是情绪调节困难，与治疗期间 ED 症状的变化相关。
研究结果支持情绪反应性可能因 ED 表现而异，并且可能是 ED 症状严重程度的重要相关因素。
情绪反应性是指情绪体验的强度和持续时间。本研究发现，较高的情绪反应性与更严重的饮食失调症状和饮食失调相关的损伤有关。考虑情绪反应性在饮食失调概念中的作用可能是有益的，特别是那些以暴食或清除为特征的饮食失调。
