Research paper
Burr EK, Dvorak RD, Stevenson BL, Schaefer LM, Wonderlich SA. Ability to tolerate distress moderates the indirect relationship between emotion regulation difficulties and loss-of-control over eating via affective lability. Eating Behaviors. 2021 Dec;43:101561. doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2021.101561. PMID: 34517279. PMCID: PMC8629940.
Why we cite it
Models a pathway from emotion-regulation difficulties to loss-of-control eating via affective lability, with distress tolerance moderating the first link.
It is a cross-sectional structural equation model: N = 3,968 university students, self-report questionnaires, one sitting. An ”indirect effect” in such a model is a statistical decomposition of covariance, not an observed mechanism, and nothing here was measured over time or manipulated. The authors hedge accordingly: ”Findings suggest an influence of distress tolerance on the relationship between poor emotion regulation and affective lability, which in turn may affect LOCE.” Their evidence base for the constructs is ”preliminary evidence indicat[ing] potential roles.”
In this student sample, people who reported more difficulty regulating emotion also reported more affective lability and more loss-of-control eating, and higher distress tolerance went with a weaker link between the first two: it attenuated the link but did not eliminate it. The study does not show that distress tolerance protects against loss-of-control eating, or that the pathway operates as a mechanism anyone observed.
DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2021.101561 · PubMed 34517279 · Publisher
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