Abstract
Individuals with bulimia nervosa and purging disorder often experience a range of difficulties effectively regulating their emotions, and eating disorder behaviors such as binge eating and purging often function as maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. A number of theoretical models are premised on or include the idea that eating disorder behaviors such as binge eating and purging function in large part to regulate negative emotions, and these models have been well supported by empirical research. Specific facets of emotion regulation that appear to be particularly challenging for many individuals with bulimia nervosa and purging disorder include accepting negative affective states, difficulties with impulse control during negative emotional states, and difficulty accessing and using emotion regulation strategies at such times. Research also shows a clear temporal and functional relationship between state negative affect and eating disorder behaviors. Several treatments including enhanced cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders, dialectical behavior therapy, and integrative cognitive-affective therapy for eating disorders include a focus on improving individuals’ ability to more effectively regulate emotions.
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Abbreviations
- AN-BP:
-
Anorexia nervosa, binge eating/purging type
- AN-R:
-
Anorexia nervosa, restricting type
- CBT:
-
Cognitive behavioral therapy
- CBT-E:
-
Enhanced cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders
- DBT:
-
Dialectical behavior therapy
- EMA:
-
Ecological momentary assessment
- ICAT-BN:
-
Integrative cognitive-affective therapy for bulimia nervosa
- OSFED:
-
Other specified feeding or eating disorder
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MacDonald, D.E., Solomon-Krakus, S., Jewett, R., Liebman, R., Trottier, K. (2022). Emotion Regulation in Bulimia Nervosa and Purging Disorder. In: Patel, V., Preedy, V. (eds) Eating Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67929-3_44-1
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