Daily Ups and Downs in Women's Binge Eating Symptoms: The Role of Basic Psychological Needs, General Self-Control, and Emotional Eating

Abstract

the high prevalence rates of problematic eating behaviors, such as binge eating symptoms, have urged researchers to investigate why and when control over eating behaviors is lost. the current study employs a daily diary methodology to examine whether the daily satisfaction and frustration of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, as conceptualized within Self-determination theory (deci & ryan, 2000), is associated with daily binge eating symptoms. in a sample of female adolescents (N = 302, age = 14-23), daily fluctuations in need frustration were related to daily fluctuations in binge eating symptoms. furthermore, frustration of all three needs yielded an independent association with binge eating symptoms. apart from the main effects of low selfcontrol strength and emotional eating, emotional eating served as a moderator of the link between need frustration and binge eating symptoms. theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Self-critical perfectionism and binge eating symptoms: A longitudinal test of the intervening role of psychological need frustration.

“…Presumably, episodes of binge eating may elicit feelings of incompetence or may prompt feelings of guilt, which could result in low need fulfillment. Note that this particular finding deviates from the diary study by Verstuyf et al (2013), who reported that, on a day-to-day basis, binge eating covaried with need frustration, but not with need satisfaction. Before providing any interpretation, future research may want to replicate the current finding.…”

“…Daily diary studies have shown that perfectionism (Boone, Soenens, Thanasis, et al, 2012), need frustration (Verstuyf et al, 2013), and binge eating (Sherry & Hall, 2009) fluctuate from day to day within individuals, and have shown that they influence each other during the course of one day. However, no study has examined the interrelations between these constructs simultaneously at the level of daily fluctuation.…”

Autonomy and Autonomy Disturbances in Self‐Development and Psychopathology: Research on Motivation, Attachment, and Clinical Process

“…In a sample of female adolescents, they showed indeed that an investment in appearance-focused motives led to need frustrations, which in turn predicted increased bulimic symptoms. Along similar lines, a diary study in female adolescents (Verstuyf, Vansteenkiste, Soenens, Boone, & Mouratidis, 2013) indicated that daily variation in psychological need frustration covaried with ups and downs in bulimic symptoms, suggesting that binge eating serves to compensate for painful experience of need frustration.…”

Examining the role of psychological need satisfaction in sleep: A Self-Determination Theory perspective

“…For example, on days when basic psychological needs are frustrated, problems with eating regulation are more likely to occur (Verstuyf, Vansteenkiste, Soenens, Boone, & Mouratidis, 2013). In addition, psychological need satisfaction has been found to play a role in peoples' sexual experiences (Smith, 2007).…”