(PS6-B37) The Impact of Emotion (dys)regulation on Eating Disorder Outcomes: A Longitudinal Examination in a Residential Eating Disorder Treatment Facility

Introduction: Eating disorders (EDs) are a complex set of disorders associated with a high rate of comorbidities and innumerable deleterious outcomes (e.g., medical complications, suicidality). These complexities are further compounded by high rates of treatment dropout and relapse, as well as poor treatment outcomes (Dejong et al., 2012; Grilo et al., 2012). Previous research has examined treatment efficacy and outcomes for manualized treatment, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), but less is known about the effectiveness of more eclectic therapeutic approaches that are often offered in residential treatment settings (i.e., whether individuals in these settings exhibit improvement between admission to discharge). In attempt to bridge this gap in treatment research, investigating broad, transdiagnostic risk factors that contribute to the etiology and maintenance of EDs may inform understanding about treatment outcomes. An established, transdiagnostic risk factor in the ED literature is emotion dysregulation. However, only a handful of studies have longitudinally investigated emotion dysregulation and ED treatment outcomes, and even fewer have examined these factors in a residential treatment center. As such, we tested whether emotion dysregulation and ED symptoms improve over the course of residential treatment and whether improvement in emotion dysregulation predicts improvement in ED outcomes.

Methods: Participants were 98 adult women receiving treatment at a residential eating disorders treatment center who completed measures at admission and discharge. Our sample is predominantly white, which represents a notable limitation of the study; however, these demographics are consistent with those of most residential ED treatment centers (Fisher et al., 2020). We will utilize subscales from the Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI-3; Garner, 2004), Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004), and the Eating Disorder Questionnaire (EDE-Q; Fairburn & Belgin, 2008) to accomplish our study aims. Data analytic plan: To assess whether emotion dysregulation and eating pathology improved from admission to discharge, we will conduct a paired samples t-test. We will then estimate two separate regression models with eating pathology at admission, emotion dysregulation at admission, and changes in emotion dysregulation as our predictor variables and changes in eating pathology as our criterion variable. Anticipated results: First, we expect that there will be an overall improvement in eating disorder pathology and emotion dysregulation from admission to discharge. Second, in line with Preyde et al. (2016) and Monell et al. (2018), we hypothesize that improvement in emotion dysregulation will predict improvement in eating disorder pathology from admission to discharge. Implications: The present study will add to the limited literature on the efficacy of residential eating disorders treatment and the limited literature examining the longitudinal relationship between emotion dysregulation and eating disorder outcomes. Our findings will help guide future ED interventions by providing specific constructs to be targeted during treatment.