Negative and positive emotional eating uniquely interact with ease of activation, intensity, and duration of emotional reactivity to predict increased binge eating

Binge eating is present in obesity and clinical eating disorder populations and positively associated with poor health outcomes. Emotional eating may be related to binge eating, but relationships with emotional reactivity remain unexplored. The present study examined the relationships between negative and positive emotional eating and emotional reactivity in predicting binge eating. A cross-sectional study was employed using an online community sample in the United States. Participants (N = 258) completed surveys assessing negative (Emotional Eating Scale-Revised, depression subscale) and positive emotional eating (Emotional Appetite Questionnaire), negative and positive emotional reactivity (Perth Emotional Reactivity Scale), and binge eating (Binge Eating Scale). Six moderation analyses were calculated with negative and positive emotional reactivity (ease of activation, intensity, and duration) as moderators of the relationship between negative and positive emotional eating, respectively, and binge eating. Increased negative emotional eating was associated with increased binge eating when duration of negative emotional reactivity was 1 standard deviation above average (p