title: Interpersonal dysfunction and affect-regulation difficulties in disordered eating among men and women.
abstract: Although several studies suggest that negative affect and interpersonal problems serve as important contributors for eating-related problems, much of this research has been conducted among women and less is known about their roles in precipitating and maintaining eating problems among men. Previous studies with undergraduate men suggest that difficulties in emotion regulation are associated with disordered eating even after controlling for differences in body mass index (BMI) and negative affect. The present study sought to replicate these findings and extend them to assess any unique variance explained by problems in interpersonal functioning among both men and women. Participants were men (n=213) and women (n=521) undergraduates at a large Midwestern university who completed a demographic information form, the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Short Circumplex Form (IIP-SC). A series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that DERS and IIP-SC significantly predicted EDE-Q global scores after controlling for variability in BMI and negative affect and that the results were similar for men and women. Our findings offer preliminary support for models that highlight emotional vulnerability and interpersonal problems for disordered eating for young adult men. Future research extending these findings among treatment-seeking samples and employing multi-method assessment would serve to further clarify the tenability of these theoretical models for both men and women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, PA 17013, USA. Electronic address: Ambwanis@dickinson.edu.
authors.forename: Suman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ambwani
authors.affiliation: VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, 3950 Allequippa St., Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA; University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 200 Lothrop St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Slane
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 316 Physics Rm. 262, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 316 Physics Rm. 262, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hopwood
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George St., Suite 901, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
authors.forename: Carlos M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Grilo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D015992:Body Mass Index; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Disordered eating; Emotion regulation; Gender differences; Interpersonal functioning; Negative affect