Medical tattooing as a complementary cosmetic intervention to reduce body-image distress and mental health symptoms in U.S. breast cancer survivors.

PURPOSE: A review of the literature revealed a high incidence of body-image distress among breast cancer survivors who had surgery. This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between medical tattooing as a complementary cosmetic intervention and body-image distress and mental health outcomes among breast cancer survivors following surgery. METHODS: We examined 330 post-surgical breast cancer survivors collected through a nationwide online survey in the U.S., pursuing two main objectives. First, we investigated body-image distress, depression and anxiety symptoms, and perceived stress in survivors who underwent breast cancer surgery, comparing those with medical tattooing (n = 89) and those without (n = 226). Second, we assessed the influence of the participant's surgery type on body-image distress, depression and anxiety symptoms, and perceived stress. Additionally, we evaluated whether individual factors, such as appearance investment, satisfaction with decision, and cosmetic expectation discrepancy, predicted the participant's body-image distress. RESULTS: Findings suggest that participants with medical tattoos reported significantly lower body-image distress, depression and anxiety symptoms, and perceived stress compared to those without medical tattoos. The participant's surgery type did not significantly predict body-image distress, depression or anxiety symptoms, or perceived stress. However, participants who reported greater appearance investment endorsed higher body-image distress. Participants who reported higher satisfaction with their treatment decisions and lower cosmetic expectation discrepancy endorsed lower body-image distress. CONCLUSION: Medical tattooing may be a valuable tool in improving body-image distress and mental health for those who wish to pursue it, but more research is needed. Empirical studies supporting the mental health benefits of medical tattooing among survivors are crucial to standardize insurance coverage and promote its inclusion as a complementary intervention across insurance providers nationwide. This complementary intervention should be considered using a patient-centered approach that aligns with the patient's values and preferences.

The Role of Alcohol Expectancies in the Association Between Behavioral Economic Alcohol Demand, Relative Reinforcement, and Alcohol Problems.

Alcohol consumption and related problems are common among college students. Prior research links behavioral economic (BE) constructs of alcohol demand and relative reinforcement (RR), and alcohol expectancies, with alcohol consumption/problems. However, research has yet to examine the associations between BE, expectancy theory, and alcohol use outcomes. In this study, college students (n = 287) completed a single online survey assessing demand, RR, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol use/problems. We examined the cross-sectional indirect association of expectancies and drinking on the relationship between demand and alcohol problems and between RR and alcohol problems. The final model showed adequate fit, χ2(26) = 67.23, RMSEA = .07, CFI = .95, SRMR = .06. Higher demand and RR were associated with stronger alcohol expectancies, which demonstrated an indirect association on the relationship between demand, and RR, and alcohol problems. Findings suggest that demand and RR may be directly related to alcohol expectancies; a relationship that has not been previously identified. Moreover, alcohol expectancies may impact the associations among demand, RR, and alcohol problems. Thus, alcohol expectancies may be an important intervention target for reducing alcohol problems. Future longitudinal research is needed to evaluate this association over time and assess if these findings have potential impact for intervention research.

Effects of a Brief Safe Drinking Intervention on Depressive and Anxiety Symptomatology: Examining Potential Side Effects of Deviance Regulation Theory Interventions.

College students are at a heightened risk of experiencing depression and anxiety symptomatology and engaging in maladaptive alcohol use. Understanding how alcohol interventions impact emotional functioning is essential. One such intervention uses Deviance Regulation Theory (DRT), which posits that behavior can be modified using targeted messaging as a function of perceived norms. DRT has been shown to be effective at increasing responsible drinking behaviors and decreasing alcohol-related consequences. However, it is unclear if this intervention influences emotional functioning. The current examines the impact of a DRT intervention on emotional functioning. Participants (n = 147) were recruited from a large Southeastern university. The study included a screening phase, intervention, and six-week follow-up. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a positive message condition about people who drink responsibly, a negative message condition about people who do not drink responsibly, and an active control condition. During the study, all participants reported on depression/anxiety symptoms, alcohol use, responsible drinking, and alcohol-related consequences. Mixed-effects regression was used to analyze the data. Results suggest an overall reduction of depressive and anxiety symptomatology in the intervention conditions but not in the control condition. In the positive condition, there was a decrease in depressive and anxiety symptomatology. The messaging was not moderated by normative beliefs. The negative condition also led to decreases in depression and anxiety symptomatology over time. In addition, perceived norms moderated the negative message in the first week after the intervention, an effect consistent with DRT. Prior research indicates this intervention is efficacious for the reduction of adverse alcohol outcomes; these data show that the intervention may also have positive effects on downstream mental health outcomes.

Development and Validation of the Sexual and Negative Dating Inventory (SANDI): A Measure of Dating and Sexual Protective Behaviors.

Adverse sexual experiences are highly prevalent among college students and associated with increased mental health symptoms and decreased use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS). The current study developed and validated a measure of dating and sexual PBS: the Sexual and Negative Dating Inventory (SANDI). Participants (64.28% female, 19.59 [2.90 SD] years old, 68.90% non-Hispanic, 71.42% white, and 76.06% heterosexual) responded to baseline (n = 1,298) and one-month (n = 336) surveys. Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling identified a 24-item measure with five-factors: Location Sharing, Assertiveness, Self-Protection, Risk Reduction, and Privacy. The model revealed good fit: χ2(242) = 2115.52, p < .001, CFI = .977, RMSEA = .077 (90% CI = .074, .080), SRMR = .043. Test-retest reliability revealed acceptable reliability of 0.74 at follow-up. Overall, SANDI showed acceptable reliability and adequate convergent and discriminant validity among college students.

A Deviance Regulation Theory Intervention Affects the Association Between Narcissistic Traits and Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategies in College Students.

Background: College students continue to report problematic alcohol use. To mitigate adverse outcomes, recent studies have employed harm reduction strategies known as Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS). Deviance Regulation Theory (DRT), an impression management intervention, has been used to promote the use of PBS. DRT relies on impression management to modify behavior. This may be especially important for individuals with higher levels of trait narcissism. Method: College student drinkers (n = 132) were randomly assigned to receive a positive message about PBS users, a negative message about non-PBS users, or control. Participants reported on current PBS use norms, daily alcohol use, PBS use, and any alcohol-related problems experienced during the previous week for the next 10 weeks. Results: Data were analyzed using multilevel regression to examine PBS use across time by condition. When PBS norms were low, narcissism was strongly associated with lower rates of PBS use in the control group. If individuals received a positive or negative message, the association between narcissism and PBS use was diminished, among individuals with low PBS norms. There were no significant differences at mean or high levels of norms, indicating the messaging was only important for the highest risk group (i.e., those with low PBS norms). Discussion: The results of this study suggest that message framing may be effective at reducing the robust negative association between narcissism and PBS use for individuals with low PBS norms. Positive messages about individuals that use PBS may be one approach to mitigating problematic alcohol consumption in this at-risk group.

Effects of medical cannabis use on physical and psychiatric symptoms across the day among older adults.

INTRODUCTION: Older adults are increasingly using medical cannabis (MC). It is unclear if therapeutic effects increase problematic use patterns. The current study addresses this issue by examining symptom trajectories across the day and using trajectories to predict problematic use. METHODS: One-hundred six older adults (age range 55-74) who endorsed medical conditions approved for treatment using MC were recruited online. Participants received six text messages/day to assess momentary symptoms for 15 days. RESULTS: Participants provided 5,156 momentary assessments across 1,106 use days. Symptom trajectories were examined across the day. There was a decline in all symptoms following use. Negative affect, pain, and nausea evinced momentary negative reinforcement associations with cannabis intoxication. Momentary negative reinforcement was associated with adverse cannabis outcomes. Declines in post-use trauma symptoms and momentary negative reinforcement effects for negative affect were both associated with cannabis use disorder symptoms. DISCUSSION: These data suggest that MC may be effective in reducing common symptom clusters. However, the negative reinforcing effect (i.e., the link between use and symptom relief at the event level) may complicate the therapeutic nature (i.e., symptom reduction). Identifying interventions to maximize benefits while minimizing costs may increase the efficacy and safety of MC in older adults.

The role of sociocultural factors on alcohol self-efficacy and protective drinking behaviors among Hispanic/Latinx young adults.

OBJECTIVES: Hispanic/Latinx drinkers have been found to experience more adverse alcohol-related consequences than any other racial/ethnic group. Due to this, researchers have looked at the connection between drinking and cultural factors, alongside discrimination, to further analyze what sociocultural factors lead to negative outcomes when drinking. DESIGN: Researchers used a sample of Hispanic/Latinx young adult drinkers (n = 710) with an average age of 22.43 (SD = 6.69), recruited through social media and assessed on several factors, including protective behavioral strategies (PBS), alcohol use severity, bicultural self-efficacy, discrimination, acculturation, and enculturation. RESULTS: Utilizing an observed variable path analysis, results showed perceived discrimination to have a significant effect on all variables in the model (bicultural self-efficacy, acculturation, enculturation, PBS self-efficacy, PBS use, and alcohol use severity). Acculturation was positively associated with PBS self-efficacy, while enculturation was positively associated with PBS use. PBS self-efficacy was positively correlated with PBS use and negatively associated with alcohol use severity. There was a significant total indirect effect from perceived discrimination to alcohol use severity through various paths (i.e. PBS self-efficacy, acculturation, and bicultural self-efficacy), with the strongest path to occur through PBS self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: Findings showcase the risk and protective effects of various sociocultural factors on drinking behaviors among young adults. PBS self-efficacy was found to have robust protective effects against alcohol use severity. Future research should continue to investigate these sociocultural and behavioral factors in order to develop efforts to mitigate hazardous alcohol use among Hispanic/Latinx young adult drinkers.

Revised Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale-20 (PBSS-20) Sub-Types: An Analysis of Direct/Controlled Consumption and Indirect/Harm Reduction PBS.

Alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBS) are commonly conceptualized with a three-factor model, as used in the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale-20 (PBSS-20). However, inconsistencies exist between factors and drinking outcomes. The current study used factor analysis to test a two-factor structure directly via controlled consumption (Direct/CC) and indirectly via harm reduction (Indirect/HR) using the PBSS-20 among a combined sample of n = 4,883 drinkers. Both the two- and three-factor structures evince similar model fit. A two-factor model yielded more concise PBS measurement. Negative associations were observed with consumption (Direct/CC PBS) and problems (Indirect/HR). A condensed, eight-item, two-factor model accounted for less variance in alcohol consumption, however more variance in alcohol-related problems. A more consistent framework for understanding the impact of PBS on alcohol-related outcomes is provided.

Examination of the Sexual and Negative Dating Inventory (SANDI) Among Sexual and Gender Minorities: An Analysis of Psychometrics and Outcomes.

ObjectiveAdverse sexual experiences (ASE), including sexual violence, sexual risk behaviors, and regretted sex, are highly prevalent among sexual and gender minorities (SGM) compared to cisgender and heterosexual individuals. Research indicates ASEs are associated with increased mental health symptomatology and decreased subsequent protective behavior use. The Sexual and Negative Dating Inventory (SANDI) measures dating and sexual protective strategies and includes five factors: Location Sharing, Assertiveness, Self-Protection, Risk Reduction and Privacy. SANDI total scores are linked to lower ASEs in heteronormative samples. Method: SANDI was previously validated in a sample of n = 1,289 college students. Data were examined from n = 313 (24.28%) SGM individuals at baseline, and n = 95 at one-month follow-up. Individuals were 19.70 (2.98 SD) years old, and 25% were non-white. Model fit was adequate for SGM: χ2(484) = 1729.621, p < .001, CFI = .947, RMSEA = .063 (90% CI = .060, .066), SRMR = .048. Results: Non-cisgender men and non-heterosexual individuals endorse using more of the SANDI at the factor level. Using logistic regression, SANDI was not associated with history of sexual violence or sexual violence over the next month. SANDI is inversely associated with history of sexual risk and prospectively associated with less sexual risk over the next month. Negative binomial regression analyses showed SANDI was not associated with a history of regretted sex; however, SANDI was moderately associated with decreased regretted sex over the next month. Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of dating and sexual protective behaviors across dimensions of gender and sexual orientation.

Neurocognitive reward processes measured via event-related potentials are associated with binge-eating disorder diagnosis and ecologically-assessed behavior.

Altered reward processing has been implicated in the onset and maintenance of binge-eating disorder (BED). However, it is unclear which precise neurocognitive reward processes may contribute to BED. In the present study, 40 individuals with BED and 40 age-, sex-, and BMI-matched controls completed a reward (incentive delay) task while their neural activity was recorded using electroencephalography (EEG). Individuals with BED also completed a 10-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) protocol assessing binge-eating behavior in the natural environment. Event-related potential (ERP) analysis of the EEG indicated that individuals with BED had stronger anticipatory (CNV) and outcome-related (RewP) neural reward activity to food and monetary rewards, compared to controls. However, within the BED group, greater frequency of binge eating during the EMA protocol was associated with stronger anticipatory (CNV) but weaker outcome-related (RewP) neural reward activity. These associations within the BED group were unique to food, and not monetary, rewards. Although preliminary, these results suggest that both anticipatory ("wanting") and outcome ("liking") reward processes may be generally amplified in BED. However, they also suggest that among individuals with BED, disorder severity may be associated with increased anticipatory reward processes ("wanting"), but relatively decreased reward-outcome processing ("liking"), of food rewards specifically.

College Student Alcohol Use: Understanding the Role of Alcohol Expectancies, Social Anxiety, Social Connectedness, and Need to Belong.

ObjectiveCollege students consume more alcohol and engage in binge drinking more frequently than their non-college attending peers, and prevalence of alcohol-related consequences (e.g., drinking and driving; taking avoidable risks) has not decreased proportionally with decreases in consumption. Social anxiety and alcohol expectancies, or beliefs about the effects of alcohol, have been found to be significantly related to alcohol use and account for significant variance in alcohol use and related consequences. Few studies, however, have examined how other social variables such as need to belong and social connectedness may fit into existing models of increased and risky alcohol use. Methods: Students at a large state university (n = 1,278) completed an online survey measuring alcohol expectancies, need to belong, social anxiety, and social connectedness. Mean age of participants was 19.65 years, and 59.5% self-identified as female, 39.8% male, and 0.7% identified as transgender. Structural equation modeling supported hypothesized relationships between need to belong, social anxiety, social connectedness, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol use, a mean centered variable that included binge drinking, drinking frequency, and amount of consumption. Results: Positive alcohol expectancies related to tension reduction, sociability, and sexuality, were positively related to drinking, such that increased alcohol expectancies were associated with increased drinking. Alcohol expectancies mediated the relationship between need to belong and increased alcohol use, as well as social connectedness and increased alcohol use. Similarly, social anxiety also mediated these relationships. No direct relationships were found between need to belong or social connectedness and alcohol use, suggesting previous research exploring these relationships may have excluded control variables (e.g., biological sex, race/ethnicity) that better explain the impact of need to belong and social connectedness on alcohol use. Conclusion: Prevention and intervention efforts might be more effective in reducing alcohol use if social factors are more broadly targeted.

Support for incentive-sensitization theory in adolescent ad libitum smokers using ecological momentary assessment.

The incentive-sensitization theory (IST) has emerged as a potentially useful theory in explaining substance addiction. IST postulates that the prolonged use of a substance can alter neural systems that are often involved in incentive motivation and reward processes, leading to an increased "sensitization" to the substance and associated stimuli. However, this increased sensitization is thought to mediate only the individual's craving of the substance (e.g., their "wanting"), not their enjoyment of the substance (e.g., their "liking"), a process that may involve unconscious implicit changes in cognitive networks linked to specific substances. Consequently, IST may better explain the real-world dissonance reported for individuals who want to accomplish long-term substance cessation but fail to do so, a phenomenon that is common in adolescent smokers. Thus, the present study aimed to examine the principles of IST in a sample of 154 adolescent ad libitum smokers (Mage = 16.57, SDage = 1.12, 61.14% male) utilizing ecological momentary assessment. Data were analyzed utilizing a multilevel structural equation model examining changes in positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), and stress from Time 1 (T1) and Time 2 (T2) as a function of smoking and tested the influence of implicit cognition (specifically, implicit attitudes about smoking [Implicit Association Test (IAT)]) on these associations. Consistent with the principles of IST, results found a modest significant negative association between smoking status at T1 and PA at T2 (B = -0.11, p = .047). This association was further moderated by IAT (B = -0.19, p = .029) and was particularly potentiated at high levels of IAT (B = -0.44, p < .001), compared to low (B = -0.05, p = .663) or mean levels of IAT (B = -0.25, p = .004). Findings from this study provide additional support to the principles underlying IST and indicate that, in adolescents, smoking may result in thwarted PA indicative of a transition from "liking" toward "wanting," and this is especially pronounced among those with stronger implicit smoking cognitions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Mediating Roles of Affect Lability and Experiential Avoidance Between Distress Tolerance and Suicidal Ideation Among College Students.

Objective: Suicidal ideation (SI) is highly prevalent among college students. Research has shown that college students are also more likely to experience low distress tolerance, affect lability, and experiential avoidance, which have been linked to SI. There is a critical need to examine the mechanisms that increase the risk of SI among college students. It is hypothesized that distress tolerance will be a strong predictor of SI, and affect lability as well as experiential avoidance will mediate this relationship. Participants and Methods: Participants (n = 820) from a Southeastern University completed an online survey, inquiring about demographic information, affect lability, SI, experiential avoidance, and distress tolerance. Data were analyzed utilizing structural equation modeling. Results: Distress tolerance was not directly related to SI. However, affect lability and experiential avoidance were found to mediate this relationship. Conclusions: Affect lability and experiential avoidance may be important predictors of SI among college students.

Disaggregating within- and between-person effects of affect on drinking behavior in a clinical sample with alcohol use disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the current study was to better understand affect-drinking relations among those diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder (AUD), as recent meta-analytic work suggests that daily negative affect may not universally predict subsequent alcohol consumption in those nondependent on alcohol. Specifically, we investigated the between- and within-person effects of positive and negative affects on drinking. METHOD: Participants (n = 92) who met AUD diagnostic criteria completed a 90-day daily assessment of drinking behavior and positive and negative affects. RESULTS: Time-lagged multilevel modeling revealed that within-person elevations in negative affect predicted increased odds and quantity of drinking later in the day. Relations between positive affect and drinking were nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are in contrast to recent meta-analytic findings and highlight the complexity of affect-drinking relations among those diagnosed with AUD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Impact of COVID-19's Economic Burden on Alcohol-Related Problems: An Indirect Effect of Depression, Stress, and Anxiety.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in global monumental upheaval. Many people were displaced from their jobs and sources of income. COVID-19 was also linked to increased mental health difficulties and increased alcohol consumption and problems. The current study aims to identify the indirect effect of depression, stress, and anxiety on the relations between the economic burden of COVID-19 and alcohol problems. Participants (N = 344) were recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Participants completed a questionnaire about substance use, mood, and the economic burden of COVID-19. Eligible participants were 18 years or older, consumed alcohol or cannabis within the past week, and verified through Amazon. Results indicated significant indirect effects of depression, stress, and anxiety on the association between the economic burden of COVID-19 and alcohol problems regardless of use. Findings revealed large effect sizes, suggesting that mental health symptomatology may have a large impact on the association between COVID-19's economic burden and alcohol-related problems. Findings suggest mental health difficulties indirectly effect the association between COVID-19's economic burden and alcohol-related problems. Intervention efforts targeting mental health may be beneficial in reducing alcohol problems among individuals experiencing distress due to large-scale public health impact, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The daily association between affect and alcohol use: A meta-analysis of individual participant data.

Influential psychological theories hypothesize that people consume alcohol in response to the experience of both negative and positive emotions. Despite two decades of daily diary and ecological momentary assessment research, it remains unclear whether people consume more alcohol on days they experience higher negative and positive affect in everyday life. In this preregistered meta-analysis, we synthesized the evidence for these daily associations between affect and alcohol use. We included individual participant data from 69 studies (N = 12,394), which used daily and momentary surveys to assess affect and the number of alcoholic drinks consumed. Results indicate that people are not more likely to drink on days they experience high negative affect, but are more likely to drink and drink heavily on days high in positive affect. People self-reporting a motivational tendency to drink-to-cope and drink-to-enhance consumed more alcohol, but not on days they experienced higher negative and positive affect. Results were robust across different operationalizations of affect, study designs, study populations, and individual characteristics. These findings challenge the long-held belief that people drink more alcohol following increases in negative affect. Integrating these findings under different theoretical models and limitations of this field of research, we collectively propose an agenda for future research to explore open questions surrounding affect and alcohol use.

Relationship Between Cannabis Use and Immediate, Delayed, and Working Memory Performance Among Older Adults.

Cannabis is increasingly accessible and use is increasing rapidly among older adults as laws change and cannabis becomes more frequently prescribed in healthcare settings. Past research identified cognitive effects of cannabis use among adolescents and young adults that can persist for several weeks after intoxication, though little is known about how these effects generalize to older adults. Participants (N = 1348) were drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and were categorized as current occasional users (up to once/week in the past year, n = 36), current frequent users (once per week or more in the past year, n = 92), past users (n = 334), and non-users (n = 886). Participant ages ranged from 50 to 98 (M = 67.25, SD = 10.68). Uncontrolled, one-way ANOVAs and controlled ANCOVAs were used to examine between-group differences on immediate and delayed wordlist memory and working memory (serial sevens). When controlling for age, gender, education, and minority status, current frequent users demonstrated significantly worse immediate memory performance compared to past and non-users. However, this difference could have been the result of acute, residual effects of past-month cannabis use among current users. In controlled analyses, there were no differences between groups on delayed or working memory. Findings indicate that greater than weekly cannabis use may result in attentional and short-term memory deficits. Further, these effects may be mitigated by sustained abstinence. Limitations including sample size and measures of cannabis use warrant future studies to replicate and build upon these findings.

Delivery of a Prevention Program in Large College Classes: Effectiveness of the Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum.

Background: Despite modest reductions in alcohol use among college students, drinking-related harms continue to be prevalent. Group-delivered programs have had little impact on drinking except for experiential expectancy challenge interventions that are impractical because they rely on alcohol administration. Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC), however, offers a non-experiential alternative suitable for widespread implementation for universal, selective, or indicated prevention. Objectives: ECALC has been effective with mandated students, fraternity members, and small classes of 30 or fewer first-year college students. Larger universities, however, typically have classes with 100 students or more, and ECALC has not yet been tested with groups of this size. To fill this gap, we conducted a group randomized trial in which five class sections with over 100 college students received either ECALC or an attention-matched control presentation and completed follow-up at four weeks. Results: ECALC was associated with significant changes on six subscales of the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol Scale (CEOA), post-intervention expectancies predicted drinking at four-week follow-up, and there were significant expectancy differences between groups. Compared to the control group, students who received ECALC demonstrated significant expectancy changes and reported less alcohol use at follow-up. Conclusions: Findings suggest ECALC is an effective, single session group-delivered intervention program that can be successfully implemented in large classes.

Examining the role of craving in affect regulation models of binge eating: Evidence from an ecological momentary assessment study.

Affect regulation models hypothesize that aversive affective states drive binge-eating behavior, which serves to regulate unpleasant emotions. Research using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) demonstrates that increases in guilt most strongly predict subsequent binge-eating episodes, raising the question: why would individuals with binge-eating pathology engage in a binge-eating episode when they feel guilty? Food craving is a robust predictor of binge eating and is commonly associated with subsequent feelings of guilt. The current study used EMA to test the hypothesis that food craving may promote increased feelings of guilt, which then predict an increased risk of binge eating within a sample of 109 individuals with binge-eating disorder. Multilevel mediation models indicated that increased momentary craving at Time 1 directly predicted a greater likelihood of binge eating at Time 2, and craving also indirectly predicted binge eating at Time 2 through momentary increases in guilt at Time 2. In other words, experiencing food craving at one time point was related to an increased likelihood of binge eating at the next time point, and a portion of this influence was attributable to increasing feelings of guilt. These results challenge simple affect regulation models of binge eating, suggesting that food-related anticipatory reward processes (i.e., craving) may be the primary driver of binge-eating risk and account for the increases in guilt commonly observed prior to binge-eating episodes. Although experimental studies are needed to confirm this possibility, these results suggest the importance of addressing food cravings within interventions for binge-eating disorder. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotion regulation difficulties are associated with loss-of-control eating dependent on degree of narcissistic traits in college students.

Loss-of-control eating (LOCE) is highly prevalent in college students and may be driven by enduring personality traits. Narcissism is often conceptualized with two broad domains: grandiose and vulnerable. The association between narcissism and LOCE has not been directly assessed, nor the potential influence of emotion regulation deficits, which are differentially associated with grandiosity and vulnerability. This study hypothesized an association between vulnerable narcissism and LOCE in college students by way of emotion regulation difficulties, extending prior findings. Participants (n = 704) completed a survey on pathological eating and body image disturbance, emotion regulation difficulties, and narcissistic traits. Results supported a full mediation effect, such that vulnerable narcissism was positively associated with LOCE by way of emotion regulation difficulties. Present findings suggest the mechanism primarily predictive of LOCE is emotion regulation difficulties, and predisposition to deficits in emotion regulation associated with vulnerable narcissism may increase the odds of LOCE. Additionally, it was noted that grandiose narcissism evinced a fully mediated inverse association with LOCE. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.