Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)
Date of Award
5-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Department
Clinical and Mental Health Counseling
Committee Chair
Danny L. McCarty, Ph.D.
Abstract
Emotion-driven impulsivity and difficulties with emotion regulation are both associated with maladaptive eating behaviors, including binge eating and emotional eating. However, it remains unclear whether broader emotion regulation difficulties intensify the influence of impulsive responses to emotional states on these behaviors. This study examined whether emotion dysregulation moderates the relationship between emotion-driven impulsivity and maladaptive eating behaviors. Participants were 266 adults (ages 18–65) who completed measures of impulsivity, emotion regulation difficulties, binge eating, and emotional eating. Moderation analyses were conducted using PROCESS in SPSS, controlling for body mass index (BMI) and gender. Negative and positive urgency were significantly associated with both binge eating and emotional eating, and emotional dysregulation independently predicted both outcomes. Contrary to hypotheses, emotion dysregulation did not moderate the association between impulsivity and binge eating. For emotional eating, small interaction effects emerged such that the relationship between urgency and emotional eating weakened at higher levels of emotion dysregulation. Findings suggest these constructs operate as an additive risk factor.
Recommended Citation
Folk, Emma G., "Big Feelings, Fast Decisions: Emotion Regulation as a Moderator of Impulsivity in Binge and Emotional Eating" (2026). Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present). 266.
https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/theses_diss/266
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