Deficits in Emotion-Regulation Skills as a Maintaining Factor in Binge Eating Disorder.

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Matthias Berking; Professorin Jennifer Svaldi, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: from 2012 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 206820104

Negative emotional states are among the most established antecedents of binge episodes (BE) in binge eating disorder (BED). Therefore, the availability of effective emotion regulation (ER) skills should help prevent BE in BED. The primary aim of the proposed study is to clarify whether deficits in ER skills are an important maintaining factor and mechanism of change in BED. We plan to assess ER skills in 120 BED individuals using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), the day reconstruction method (DRM) and retrospective self-reports. We will compare ER skills of BED individuals with clinical and non-clinical controls. Moreover, using multiple occasion assessment and recent developments in statistical tools for the analyses of longitudinal data we will investigate time-lagged associations between ER skills application and subsequent BE in the BED sample. Finally, we will experimentally vary ER skills by randomly assigning BED participants either to an ER skills training (ERT) or to a wait-list control condition (WLC). In addition to EMA, DRM and retrospective self-reports, we will utilize objective monitoring of eating behavior in a laboratory bogus taste task following a sadness induction when evaluating the effects of ERT. By combining group comparisons, multiple occasion analyses of time-lagged associations and an experimental manipulation of ER skills, we will be able to clarify whether deficits in ER are an important maintaining factor and, as such, a potential target in the treatment of BED.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants