(PS6-A21) Exploring the Interaction Between Affect and Body Image on Disordered Eating Behaviors

Affect and disordered eating research primarily has focused on positive and negative affect broadly and their association with emotional and binge eating. Recent findings highlight the importance of boredom as a discrete and unique predictor of disordered eating. Notably, affect and body image have been investigated as main effects, despite potential for the importance of the affective context in which body image concerns are experienced. The current study investigated positive and negative affect and boredom as potential moderators of the relationship between body image concerns and disordered eating. It was anticipated that the relationship between body image concerns and disordered eating would be strongest for those with greater reported negative affect and greater boredom. The current study is a secondary data analysis using three separate samples to test robustness of findings. Study 1 (N=483, 53.2% female, 67% White) recruited participants from a large southeastern university. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) measured trait affect, the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (EDDS) measured disordered eating symptom count, and the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) measured body image concerns. Study 2 (N=362, 52.9% female, 63.6% White) recruited participants from a large southeastern university and Study 3 (N=450, 59.2% female, 83.5% White) recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk; Study 3), respectively. Both studies included the PANAS, the Boredom Proneness Scale, the Dutch Eating Behaviors Questionnaire (DEBQ; restrained and emotional eating), and the Weight Concern subscale of the Eating Disorder Examination – Questionnaire (EDEQ-WS) to measure of body image concerns. Linear (continuous) and generalized linear regressions (count outcomes) were run, controlling for sex, age, BMI, and affect. Body shape/weight concerns was the predictor and disordered eating was the outcome (EDDS, Restraint, Emotional Eating). Moderators (positive affect, negative affect, boredom) were tested individually. Significance testing was adjusted using the Hochberg correction. Hypotheses were partially supported. No significant interaction was observed between positive or negative affect and body shape concerns when predicting total eating disorder symptom count (ps > .05). A consistent pattern of findings emerged across Study 2 and Study 3, with a significant interaction emerging between boredom proneness and weight concerns on restrained eating (Study 2; b=-.02, p=.019, 95% CI [-.038, -.003]; Study 3; b=-.02, p=.046, 95% CI [-.038, 0]). The association between weight concerns and restrained eating was significantly stronger among those with greater boredom proneness. No significant interactions were observed for emotional eating (ps > .05). Findings underscore the need for future investigations to assess the role of discrete emotion categories, beyond trait positive and negative affect, on disordered eating behavior. Cognitive behavioral prevention and intervention approaches to disordered eating may benefit from targeting the affective context of body image, especially boredom.