title: Emotion contagion moderates the relationship between emotionally-negative families and abnormal eating behavior.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To reconcile empirical inconsistencies in the relationship between emotionally-negative families and daughters' abnormal eating, we hypothesized a critical moderating variable: daughters' vulnerability to emotion contagion.
  
  
  METHODS
  A nonclinical sample of undergraduate females (N = 92) was recruited via an advertisement and completed self-report measures validated for assessing: families' expressive negativity, daughters' susceptibility to emotion contagion, dietary restraint, and disinhibition, eating attitudes, and several control variables (interpersonal orientation, alexithymia, and the big five personality traits: extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, neuroticism, and agreeableness).
  
  
  RESULTS
  All variables and interactions were entered as predictors in a multistep multiple regression equation. Only an emotion contagion by family expressivity interaction term significantly predicted unhealthy eating attitudes (β = .29, p = .02) and dietary restraint (β = .27, p = .03). Negatively expressive families significantly induced unhealthy eating and restraint but only among young women susceptible to emotion contagion (ps < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Young women susceptible to emotion contagion may be at increased risk for eating disorders.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA. max.weisbuch@du.edu
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weisbuch
authors.forename: Nalini
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ambady
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Slepian
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Jimerson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004644:Emotions; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D011581:Psychological Tests; D055815:Young Adult