Loneliness mediates the relationship between emotion  dysregulation and bulimia nervosa/binge eating disorder  psychopathology in a clinical sample.
Emotion dysregulation has been linked to binge eating disorder (BED) and bulimia nervosa (BN) although the mechanisms by which it affects BN/BED psychopathology are unclear. This study tested loneliness as a mediator between emotion dysregulation and BN/BED psychopathology. A treatment-seeking sample of 107 women with BN or BED was assessed for loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale), emotion dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale), and BN/BED psychopathology (Eating Disorder Examination) before treatment. Hierarchical linear regressions and bootstrapping mediation models were run. Greater overall emotion dysregulation was associated with greater BN/BED psychopathology, mediated by loneliness (95 % CI 0.03, 0.09). Emotion dysregulation, however, did not mediate between loneliness and BN/BED psychopathology (95 % CI −0.01, 0.01). Targeting loneliness may effectively treat emotional aspects of BN/BED in women.
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 181 Psychology Building, 1835 Neil Ave, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. southward.6@osu.edu
Matthew W
MW
Southward
Kara A
KA
Christensen
Karla C
KC
Fettich
Jessica
J
Weissman
Johnny
J
Berona
Eunice Y
EY
Chen
D000328:Adult; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011599:Psychopathology