Relationships between eating disorder-specific and transdiagnostic risk factors for binge eating: An integrative moderated mediation model of emotion regulation, anticipatory reward, and expectancy

Although relationships between negative affect, emotion dysregulation, and binge eating have been well-established, the mechanisms and individual risk factors that account for this relationship have yet to be elucidated. In addition to emotion dysregulation, altered reward functioning and negative affect eating expectancies (i.e., the expectancy that eating will relieve negative affect) are factors that have been previously linked to binge eating, though theoretical frameworks have not provided an integrated conceptualization of relationships between these domains. Therefore, the present study examined an integrative moderated mediation model among a sample of 101 adults with self-reported eating disorder (ED) symptoms who completed a battery of online questionnaires. Results supported the hypothesized model, which demonstrated that eating expectancies mediated the relationship between emotion dysregulation and binge eating frequency, and there was a positive association between emotion dysregulation and eating expectancies among individuals high in anticipatory reward. These findings provide preliminary support for an integrated approach to understanding transdiagnostic and ED-specific risk factors that potentiate binge eating. •Emotion regulation (ER), anticipatory reward (AR), and eating expectancies (EE) have been linked to binge eating.•This study examined a moderated mediation model predicting binge eating frequency among adults with eating disorder symptoms.•EE mediated the relationship between ER and binge eating, and AR moderated the relationship between ER and EE.•Findings demonstrate relationships between transdiagnostic and eating disorder-specific factors that potentiate binge eating.•Future prospective research is necessary to examine temporal relationships between these constructs.