The effects of negative mood and self-awareness on eating behavior in children with loss of control eating

01.10.2015 bis 30.01.2018

LOC eating is the most prevalent eating disorder in childhood and adolescence and is linked with increased psychological and social problems as well as physical impairment caused by increased weight. The Escape Theory assumes eating episodes to be a maladaptive strategy for the avoidance of externally triggered negative self-awareness. While first evidence successfully linked negative mood to LOC eating, no study has tested whether this link is moderated by self-awareness. This project will therefore determine whether negative mood –specifically frustration- and self-awareness are causally linked to pathological eating behavior in LOC eating. To this end, we will manipulate frustration (low vs high) and self-awareness (low vs high) independently in a within-subject design, after which children with and without LOC eating (n = 48 each) will participate in a bogus taste test. Outcome variables include amount of calories consumed in the taste test as well as observer-based bite size and bite rate.