A pilot study of attachment style and emotional experience in adolescent girls with loss of control eating

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe established link between attachment insecurity and disinhibited eating may in part be explained by social problems, negative mood, and/or physiologic ‘stress’; however, these mechanisms have not been tested in adolescents with loss of control (LOC) eating. We therefore examined associations among attachment styles, social problems, negative emotions, and autonomic indices in 32 adolescent girls with recurrent LOC eating (body mass index z-score = 2.2 ± 0.4; age = 14.9 ± 1.6 years). Participants completed the Behavioral Systems Questionnaire to assess relational styles (secure, preoccupied, avoidant) and the Beck Depression Inventory to assess depressive symptoms. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist to assess teen social problems. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of real-world negative affect and social problems was collected for two weeks, and ambulatory monitoring of autonomic indices for two days. Preoccupied attachment was positively associated with depressive symptoms (n = ...