More Like this

1. A daily diary study of emotion regulation as a moderator of negative affect‐binge eating associations

   https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23768  

   Mikhail, Megan E. ; Fowler, Natasha ; Burt, S. Alexandra ; Neale, Michael C. ; Keel, Pamela K. ; Katzman, Debra K. ; Klump, Kelly L. ( July 2022 , International Journal of Eating Disorders)

   While negative affect (NA) typically increases risk for binge eating, the ultimate impact of NA may depend on a person's ability to regulate their emotions. In this daily, longitudinal study, we examined whether emotion regulation (ER) modified the strength of NA‐dysregulated eating associations.

   Women (N = 311) from the Michigan State University Twin Registry first reported dimensional binge eating symptoms and broad ER difficulties (e.g., limited emotional awareness, difficulty controlling emotional impulses). Participants then rated use of adaptive (cognitive reappraisal, social sharing, situation modification, and acceptance) and maladaptive (rumination, expressive suppression, and self‐criticism) ER strategies, emotional eating (EE), objective binge eating (OBE), and NA once daily for 49 consecutive days.

   There were several main effects of ER on binge‐eating pathology in both between‐person (i.e., comparing women who differed on average) and within‐person (i.e., examining fluctuations in variables day‐to‐day) analyses. Between‐person, greater broad ER difficulties, greater maladaptive strategy use, and lower adaptive strategy use were all associated with greater binge‐eating pathology. Within‐person, greater maladaptive strategy use was associated with greater odds of OBE on that day and on the following day. However, neither broad ER difficulties nor use of specific strategies moderated associations between NA and dysregulated eating in between‐ or within‐person analyses.

   While ER is independently associated with risk for dysregulated eating, it may not fully mitigate the impact of NA. Additional strategies (e.g., decreasing environmental stressors and increasing social support) may be needed to minimize NA and its impact on dysregulated eating.

   Negative affect (NA; e.g., sadness, guilt) increases dysregulated eating risk. Because NA is sometimes unavoidable, we examined whether emotion regulation (ER; i.e., how a person responds to their emotions) might impact whether NA leads to dysregulated eating. Although more effective ER was associated with less dysregulated eating overall, ER did not impact the association between NA and dysregulated eating. Other approaches may therefore be needed to mitigate NA‐dysregulated eating associations.

    

   more » « less
2. Cerebral blood flow in 5‐ to 8‐month‐olds: Regional tissue maturity is associated with infant affect

   https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12928  

   Catalina Camacho, M. ; King, Lucy S. ; Ojha, Amar ; Garcia, Cheyenne M. ; Sisk, Lucinda M. ; Cichocki, Anna C. ; Humphreys, Kathryn L. ; Gotlib, Ian H. ( December 2019 , Developmental Science)

   Infancy is marked by rapid neural and emotional development. The relation between brain function and emotion in infancy, however, is not well understood. Methods for measuring brain function predominantly rely on the BOLD signal; however, interpretation of the BOLD signal in infancy is challenging because the neuronal‐hemodynamic relation is immature. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) provides a context for the infant BOLD signal and can yield insight into the developmental maturity of brain regions that may support affective behaviors. This study aims to elucidate the relations among rCBF, age, and emotion in infancy. One hundred and seven mothers reported their infants' (infant ageM ± SD = 6.14 ± 0.51 months) temperament. A subsample of infants completed MRI scans, 38 of whom produced usable perfusion MRI during natural sleep to quantify rCBF. Mother‐infant dyads completed the repeated Still‐Face Paradigm, from which infant affect reactivity and recovery to stress were quantified. We tested associations of infant age at scan, temperament factor scores, and observed affect reactivity and recovery with voxel‐wise rCBF. Infant age was positively associated with CBF in nearly all voxels, with peaks located in sensory cortices and the ventral prefrontal cortex, supporting the formulation that rCBF is an indicator of tissue maturity. Temperamental Negative Affect and recovery of positive affect following a stressor were positively associated with rCBF in several cortical and subcortical limbic regions, including the orbitofrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus. This finding yields insight into the nature of affective neurodevelopment during infancy. Specifically, infants with relatively increased prefrontal cortex maturity may evidence a disposition toward greater negative affect and negative reactivity in their daily lives yet show better recovery of positive affect following a social stressor.

    

   more » « less
3. Adolescents’ neural reactivity to parental criticism is associated with diminished happiness during daily interpersonal situations

   https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsad020  

   James, Kiera M. ; Sequeira, Stefanie L. ; Dahl, Ronald E. ; Forbes, Erika E. ; Ryan, Neal D. ; Hooley, Jill ; Ladouceur, Cecile D. ; Silk, Jennifer S. ( April 2023 , Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience)

   The goal of this study was to examine the relation between real-world socio-emotional measures and neural activation to parental criticism, a salient form of social threat for adolescents. This work could help us understand why heightened neural reactivity to social threat consistently emerges as a risk factor for internalizing psychopathology in youth. We predicted that youth with higher reactivity to parental criticism (vs neutral comments) in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), amygdala and anterior insula would experience (i) less happiness in daily positive interpersonal situations and (ii) more sadness and anger in daily negative interpersonal situations. Participants (44 youth aged 11–16 years with a history of anxiety) completed a 10-day ecological momentary assessment protocol and a neuroimaging task in which they listened to audio clips of their parents’ criticism and neutral comments. Mixed-effects models tested associations between neural activation to critical (vs neutral) feedback and emotions in interpersonal situations. Youth who exhibited higher activation in the sgACC to parental criticism reported less happiness during daily positive interpersonal situations. No significant neural predictors of negative emotions (e.g. sadness and anger) emerged. These findings provide evidence of real-world correlates of neural reactivity to social threat that may have important clinical implications.

    

   more » « less
4. A cotwin control study of associations between financial hardship and binge eating phenotypes during COVID ‐19

   https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23841  

   Mikhail, Megan E. ; Ackerman, Lindsay S. ; Culbert, Kristen M. ; Burt, S. Alexandra ; Neale, Michael C. ; Keel, Pamela K. ; Katzman, Debra K. ; Klump, Kelly L. ( October 2022 , International Journal of Eating Disorders)

   COVID‐19 was associated with significant financial hardship and increased binge eating (BE). However, it is largely unknown whether financial stressors contributed to BE during the pandemic. We used a longitudinal, cotwin control design that controls for genetic/environmental confounds by comparing twins in the same family to examine whether financial hardship during COVID‐19 was associated with BE.

   Female twins (N = 158;M_age = 22.13) from the Michigan State University Twin Registry rated financial stressors (e.g., inability to afford necessities) daily for 49 consecutive days during COVID‐19. We first examined whether financial hardship was associated with BE phenotypes across the full sample. We then examined whether cotwins who differed on financial hardship also differed in BE.

   Participants who experienced greater mean financial hardship across the study had significantly greater dimensional BE symptoms, and participants who experienced greater financial hardship on a given day reported significantly more emotional eating that day. These results were replicated in cotwin control analyses. Twins who experienced more financial hardship than their cotwin across the study reported greater dimensional BE symptoms than their cotwin, and participants who experienced more financial hardship than their cotwin on a given day reported greater emotional eating that day. Results were identical when restricting analyses to monozygotic twins, suggesting associations were not due to genetic confounds.

   Results suggest that BE‐related symptoms may be elevated in women who experienced financial hardship during COVID‐19 independent of potential genetic/environmental confounds. However, additional research in larger samples is needed.

   Little is known regarding how financial difficulties during the COVID‐19 pandemic may have contributed to increased binge eating (BE). We found preliminary evidence that financial hardship during COVID‐19 may be associated with greater rates of BE‐related symptoms even when comparing twins from the same family. While additional research is needed, results suggest that people who experienced financial hardship during COVID‐19 may be at increased risk for BE.

    

   more » « less
5. DHEAS and nutritional status among Sidama, Ngandu, and Aka children: Effects of cortisol and implications for adrenarche

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23881  

   Helfrecht, Courtney ; Wang, Hui ; Dira, Samuel J. ; DeAvila, David ; Meehan, Courtney L. ( February 2023 , American Journal of Human Biology)

   Adrenarche, the biological event marked by rising production of dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulfate (DHEAS), may represent a sensitive period in child development, with important implications for adolescence and beyond. Nutritional status, particularly BMI and/or adiposity, has long been hypothesized as a factor in DHEAS production but findings are inconsistent, and few studies have examined this among non‐industrialized societies. In addition, cortisol has not been included in these models. We here evaluate effects of height‐ (HAZ), weight‐ (WAZ), and BMI‐ (BMIZ) for‐age on DHEAS concentrations among Sidama agropastoralist, Ngandu horticulturalist, and Aka hunter‐gatherer children.

   Heights and weights were collected from 206 children aged 2–18 years old. HAZ, WAZ, and BMIZ were calculated using CDC standards. DHEAS and cortisol assays were used to determine biomarker concentrations in hair. Generalized linear modeling was used to examine effects of nutritional status on DHEAS concentrations, as well as cortisol, controlling for age, sex, and population.

   Despite the prevalence of low HAZ and WAZ scores, the majority (77%) of children had BMIz‐scores >−2.0 SD. Nutritional status has no significant effect on DHEAS concentrations, controlling for age, sex, and population. Cortisol, however, is a significant predictor of DHEAS concentrations.

   Our findings do not support a relationship between nutritional status and DHEAS. Instead, results suggest an important role for stress and ecology in DHEAS concentrations across childhood. Specifically, effects of environment via cortisol may be influential to patterning of DHEAS. Future work should investigate local ecological stressors and their relationship to adrenarche.

    

   more » « less