TY - JOUR PY - 2016// TI - Associations between emotion regulation difficulties, eating disorder symptoms, non-suicidal self-injury, and suicide attempts in a heterogeneous eating disorder sample JO - Comprehensive psychiatry A1 - Pisetsky, Emily M. A1 - Haynos, Ann F. A1 - Lavender, Jason M. A1 - Crow, Scott J. A1 - Peterson, Carol B. SP - 143 EP - 150 VL - 73 IS - N2 - BACKGROUND: This study examined the associations between specific dimensions of emotion dysregulation and eating disorder (ED) symptoms and behaviors, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and suicide attempts in a heterogeneous ED sample.

METHODS: Participants (N=110) completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), and self-reported the presence of lifetime NSSI and a lifetime suicide attempt.

RESULTS: The EDE-Q global score, a primarily cognitive measure of ED symptoms, was significantly positively correlated with DERS strategies, clarity, and awareness subscale scores and DERS total score (ps<0.01). Only the strategies subscale was uniquely positively associated with EDE-Q global score in a multivariate regression analysis. There was no association between the frequency of binge eating or frequency of driven exercise and any of the DERS subscale scores or total score (ps>0.01). Frequency of purging was significantly, positively associated with DERS impulse subscale score and total score (p<0.01). None of the DERS subscale scores were significantly different between those with and without NSSI or between those with and without a lifetime suicide attempt (ps>0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that in a heterogeneous ED sample, emotion regulation deficits are more strongly associated with cognitively-oriented symptoms of EDs than behavioral symptoms such as a binge eating, purging, driven exercise, NSSI, or suicide attempts.

Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0010-440X UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2016.11.012 ID - ref1 ER -