Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026
04:56
Assessment of Social Transmission of Food Preferences Behaviors
Published on: January 25, 2018
Intuitive Eating and Affect in Real Time: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study Comparing Heterosexual and Sexual
Kaitlyn E Ryan1, Jennifer L Shipley2, Abby L Braitman3
1Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology, Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
The International Journal of Eating Disorders
|August 1, 2026
Summary
Positive and negative affect are linked to intuitive eating (IE) behaviors, often following them. These affect-IE processes show some differences between sexual minority women and heterosexual women.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Eating Behaviors
- Affective Science
Background:
- The temporal relationship between affect and intuitive eating (IE) is not well understood.
- Affect-IE processes may vary between sexual minority women (SMW) and heterosexual women (HW).
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the temporal associations between positive and negative affect before and after IE behaviors.
- To investigate whether these associations differ by sexual orientation in cisgender women who binge eat.
Main Methods:
- Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) data were collected over 14 days from 296 cisgender women (146 SMW, 150 HW) aged 18-30 who binge eat.
- Multilevel lagged models were used to analyze the data, with sexual orientation as a moderator.
Main Results:
- Higher positive affect was linked to greater subsequent food enjoyment. Lower negative affect was associated with increased food enjoyment and permission to eat.
- Prior IE behaviors like food enjoyment and body trust related to higher positive affect. Permission to eat showed complex associations.
- Specific associations between prior eating behaviors and affect differed between SMW and HW, particularly regarding permission to eat and negative affect.
Conclusions:
- Affect is temporally connected to IE behaviors, frequently following them, which may reinforce IE over time.
- While patterns were largely similar, some differences emerged between SMW and HW, suggesting unique underlying mechanisms.
- Further research is needed to explore these nuanced affect-IE relationships across diverse populations.
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