Dysphoric mood may explain the relation between sleep reactivity and binge eating but not purging

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated whether sleep reactivity (i.e., a propensity to experience sleep disturbances when stressed) relates to eating disorder behavioral symptoms indirectly through dysphoric mood in a sample of college students. Participants: One hundred and ninety-eight college students (51.5% female). Methods: Participants completed self-report measures of dysphoric mood, eating disorder behavioral symptoms, and sleep reactivity. Results: Higher sleep reactivity was associated with greater binge-eating symptoms indirectly through higher dysphoric mood. Higher sleep reactivity was associated with greater purging symptoms; however, this association was not explained by dysphoric mood. Conclusions: Findings support the relevance of sleep reactivity to binge eating and purging and suggest that sleep reactivity relates to binge-eating symptoms indirectly through dysphoric mood. If replicated in prospective data, targeting stress-induced sleep and mood disturbances in college students may reduce risk for binge eating.

Keywords:

• Stress
• binge eating
• purging
• sleep reactivity
• dysphoric mood

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Illinois Institute of Technology Institutional Review Board.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (grant number T32-MH082761).