PTSD, food addiction, and disordered eating in a sample of primarily older veterans: The mediating role of emotion regulation

Abstract Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with eating disorders (EDs) and addictive behaviors, including the relatively new construct food addiction. However, few studies have investigated mechanisms that account for these associations, and men are underrepresented in studies...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Psychiatry research 2016-09, Vol.243, p.23-29
Main Authors:	Mitchell, Karen S, Wolf, Erika J
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Adult Aged Aged, 80 and over Behavior, Addictive - diagnosis Behavior, Addictive - epidemiology Behavior, Addictive - psychology Eating disorders Emotions - physiology Feeding and Eating Disorders - diagnosis Feeding and Eating Disorders - epidemiology Feeding and Eating Disorders - psychology Female Humans Male Men Middle Aged Psychiatry Random Allocation Risk Factors Self Report Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - epidemiology Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology Surveys and Questionnaires Veterans Veterans - psychology Young Adult
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Summary:	Abstract Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with eating disorders (EDs) and addictive behaviors, including the relatively new construct food addiction. However, few studies have investigated mechanisms that account for these associations, and men are underrepresented in studies of EDs and food addiction. We examined whether lifetime PTSD symptoms were associated with current food addiction and ED symptoms, and whether emotion regulation (expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal), which has been associated with both PTSD and EDs, mediated these relations, in a sample of trauma-exposed, male ( n = 642) and female ( n = 55) veterans. Participants were recruited from the Knowledge Networks-GfK Research Panel and completed an online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling revealed that PTSD was directly associated with ED symptoms, food addiction, expressive suppression, and cognitive reappraisal in the full sample and with all constructs except cognitive reappraisal in the male subsample. Expressive suppression was significantly associated with ED symptoms and mediated the PTSD—ED relation. These results highlight the importance of investigating PTSD as a risk factor for food addiction and ED symptoms and the potential mediating role of emotion regulation in the development of PTSD and EDs in order to identify targets for treatments.
ISSN:	0165-1781 1872-7123