Emotional responses and emotion regulation in eating disorders
Caterina Lombardo, Monica David, Alessandra Moreschini, Gemma Battagliese, Lucrezia Maccioli, Assunta Pierotti, Aldo Stella
This study compares the use of Expressive Suppression and Cognitive Reappraisal strategies, measured
through ERQ (Gross and John, 2003), by patients with Eating Disorders and healthy controls. Results
highlight that patients with Eating Disorders, and especially those with Bulimia, report higher use
of suppression and lower use of reappraisal when compared to controls. Moreover, they also report
experiencing greater urges to overeat in presence of negative emotions when compared to controls.
Consistent with existing literature, it is possible to interpret these results as an indication that the use
of dysfunctional strategies promotes the development and maintenance of eating disorders, through the
promotion of a more frequent experience of negative emotions, which, in turn, is associated with the
urge to overeat, as a strategy for regulating them. However, longitudinal studies are needed in order to
confirm this speculation.
Keywords
Eating Disorders, Negative Emotions, Emotion Regulations, Expressive
Suppression, Reappraisal.
