The moderating role of sleep duration on momentary relations between negative affect and loss‐of‐control eating in children and adolescents

Abstract

Objective Loss‐of‐control (LOC) eating is associated with eating disorders and obesity, and thus it is imperative to understand its momentary risk factors in order to improve intervention efforts. Negative affect has been proposed as a momentary risk factor for LOC eating, but the evidence for its effects in children and adolescents is mixed. Short sleep duration (which is very common in youth), may be one variable that moderates the relation between negative affect and subsequent LOC eating. As such, we aimed to examine the moderating role of within‐person sleep duration on the momentary relations between negative affect and subsequent LOC eating. Method We recruited children (N = 30) with overweight/obesity ages 8‐14, who completed a 2‐week ecological momentary assessment protocol assessing negative affect and LOC eating several times per day, while also wearing a sleep actigraphy device and completing sleep diaries. Results Consistent with hypotheses, within‐person sleep duration moderated the next‐day momentary relation between within‐person negative affect and LOC eating, such that shorter sleep duration strengthened the positive relation between negative affect and loss‐of‐control eating. Conclusions Results suggest that, in children and adolescents, fluctuations in sleep duration may influence susceptibility to losing control over eating after experiencing negative affect. Future research should further investigate other metrics of sleep disturbance as they relate to emotion regulation and LOC eating. Such research will set the stage for augmenting paediatric interventions to better target maintenance factors for LOC eating.

Associations between prenatal loss of control eating and cardiovascular health during pregnancy.

“…Existing literature supports our finding that prenatal LOC relates to lower scores on sleep duration and nicotine use CVH metrics; prior research has found an increased prevalence of combustible tobacco and NDS use among individuals with diagnosed eating disorders, including binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa (Morean & L’Insalata, 2018; M. Solmi et al, 2016), and some evidence suggests an association between LOC and poorer sleep (Allison et al, 2016; Manasse et al, 2022; Parker et al, 2022). Although previous research has shown associations between LOC and lower diet quality and higher BMI (Goldschmidt, 2017), we did not find associations between prenatal LOC and scores on these CVH metrics during pregnancy.…”

Prevalence of Disordered Eating and Its Associated Factors From a Socioecological Approach Among a Sample of Spanish Adolescents: The EHDLA Study

“…However, the literature on sleep and disordered eating is still scarce. Supporting this idea, variations in sleep duration may affect the susceptibility to losing control over eating after experiencing negative affect in a young population, and variations in sleep duration may impact susceptibility to losing control over eating after experiencing negative feelings in a young population ( 64 ). Furthermore, chronic sleep restriction may increase the likelihood of suboptimal dietary behavior in adolescents with excess weight ( 65 ).…”