Associations Between Interpersonal Problems, Negative Affect, and Symptoms of Night Eating Syndrome

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Eating Disorders

Background:

• Research on social support, attachment insecurity, and negative affect in night eating syndrome (NES) is limited.
• These factors are implicated in the etiology of other eating disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if individuals with night eating (NE) symptoms report lower social support, greater attachment insecurity, and increased negative affect compared to controls.
• To examine if negative affect mediates the relationship between interpersonal problems (social support, attachment insecurity) and NE symptoms.

Main Methods:

• A representative German population sample (N=2423) completed the Night Eating Questionnaire.
• MANOVA analyzed differences in social support, attachment insecurity, and negative affect between individuals with and without NE symptoms.
• Mediation analyses examined negative affect as a mediator between interpersonal problems and NE symptoms.

Main Results:

• Individuals with NE symptoms reported significantly lower social support, more insecure attachment, and greater negative affect.
• Negative affect significantly mediated the associations between social support or attachment insecurity and NE symptoms.
• All findings remained significant after controlling for BMI.

Conclusions:

• Individuals with NE symptoms exhibit elevated interpersonal problems and negative affect.
• Findings support the cross-sectional applicability of the interpersonal model to NES.
• Longitudinal research is warranted to explore these factors as potential risk or maintaining factors for NES.