This study investigated the mediating role of emotion dysregulation in the association between childhood trauma and food addiction. Participants (n=310) completed self-report measures of food addiction, childhood trauma experiences, emotion dysregulation, and demographic variables. Pearson zero-order correlations were conducted to identify potential covariates. Age, socioeconomic status, BMI, and education were significantly associated with study variables and were included as covariates in analyses. Moderated mediational analyses were used to investigate whether DERS (emotion regulation) mediated the association between the CTQ (childhood trauma) and YFAS2.0 (food addiction) and to explore whether gender identity (men vs women) moderated this association. Emotion dysregulation partially mediated associations between food addiction and childhood trauma. Gender moderated associations between childhood trauma and emotion dysregulation as well as childhood trauma and food addiction. Both moderating pathways were significantly stronger for men compared to women. Results suggest that emotion dysregulation may be an important mediating factor in the association between childhood trauma and food addiction, particularly for men.
Hoover, L. V., Yu, H. P., Duval, E. R., & Gearhardt, A. N. (2022). Childhood trauma and food addiction: The role of emotion regulation difficulties and gender differences. Appetite. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106137
