Keep Calm and Carry On? Grit Buffers Against Disordered Eating Unless Expressive Suppression is Used to Regulate Emotions

Abstract

Introduction: Grit is a personality trait that affords individuals the ability to push through challenging circumstances, suggesting tolerance of negative affect. In contrast, individuals with disordered eating are motivated to avoid negative affect. We speculated whether grit would buffer against disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, and conducted two studies to address this query.Method: Study 1 (N = 137) had participants from eating disorder treatment centers (n = 52) and adults from the community (n = 85). Disordered eating was assessed using the Eating Disorder Inventory. In Study 2, we tested whether emotion regulation strategy (i.e., cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) as an individual differences variable influenced the relation between grit and disordered eating within a community sample (N = 212). Disordered eating was assessed via the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire. In both studies, Grit-Consistency and Grit-Perseverance were measured using the Short Grit Scale.Results: Study 1 revealed that Grit–Consistency, not Grit–Perseverance, was associated with lower bulimia and body dissatisfaction scores. Further, moderation analysis indicated that this relation was consistent for both the clinical and community samples. Findings from Study 2 demonstrated that Grit–Consistency was inversely correlated with shape and weight concerns. Moderation regression analysis showed that elevated levels of expressive suppression attenuated the relation between Grit-Consistency and disordered eating.Discussion: Our work provides evidence that Grit-Consistency buffers against disordered eating. But elevated use of expressive suppression, a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy, eliminates the benefits of grit.