The role of emotional intelligence and negative affect in bulimic symptomatology

Emotions, particularly emotion dysregulation, play an important role in the development and maintenance of eating disorders as evidenced by the emphasis given to addressing emotions in a number of psychotherapeutic approaches that have been adapted for the treatment of women with disordered eating. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of emotional intelligence and other emotion regulation variables in the relationship between negative affect and bulimic symptomatology. One hundred fifty undergraduate females were assessed via a packet of self-report questionnaires that included measures of emotion regulation, including emotional intelligence (BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory—Short Form), alexithymia (Twenty-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale), and coping (Brief COPE Inventory), negative affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule—Expanded Form and Affect Intensity Measure), and bulimic symptomatology (Bulimia Test—Revised). Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that each conceptual area of interest contributed to the prediction of bulimic symptomatology. In addition, the measures of emotion regulation accounted for significant variance in bulimic symptomatology even after controlling for negative affect. Emotional intelligence and other emotion regulation variables did not moderate the relationship between negative affect and bulimic symptomatology. However, results highlight the role of emotion in disordered eating behaviors and support the negative affect and emotion dysregulation theories of eating disorders.