Emotion differentiation and disordered eating behaviors: The role of appearance schemas

Emotion differentiation, or the ability to distinguish between discrete emotions in the moment, has been linked to maladaptive behaviors, including disordered eating. Appearance schemas may impact this relationship, as it has been suggested that individuals who are preoccupied with appearance-related information in their environment have limited attentional resources to devote to other internal processes. This study sought to expand existing research by examining: 1) the relationships between emotion differentiation and self-reported eating disorder symptomatology, and 2) strength of implicit appearance schemas as a moderator of these relationships. Participants were 118 female undergraduate students who completed a self-report disordered eating symptomatology questionnaire and a word stem completion task (measuring implicit appearance schemas) at baseline. Participants then reported their daily disordered eating behaviors and emotions through ecological momentary assessment for seven days. Emotion differentiation indices were calculated from negatively-valenced (NED) and positively-valenced (PED) daily affect ratings using intraclass correlation coefficients. Analyses demonstrated significant relationships between NED, severity of eating disorder symptomology, and frequency of compensatory behaviors; however, these relationships did not emerge with PED. Strength of appearance schemas was a moderator, suggesting that poor NED paired with stronger appearance schemas resulted in more severe eating disorder symptoms and more frequent engagement in compensatory behaviors. Multilevel models revealed that better NED predicted daily engagement in dietary restriction. By examining the relationship between emotion differentiation and disordered eating symptoms, this study contributes clinically significant information regarding a facet of emotional experience that may be important to our understanding of eating disorder symptomatology.