Momentary fluctuations in emotional intelligence and stress predict changes in disordered eating

Abstract

Objective: Low emotional intelligence and symptoms of disordered eating are connected, however, whether daily fluctuations in emotional intelligence predict daily changes in disordered eating symptoms has not been examined, nor has stress been explored as a potential moderator of this relationship. Participants: Participants were undergraduate students (n = 100). Methods: Participants completed baseline questionnaires, then responded to random ecological momentary assessment prompts 3 times daily for 2 weeks. Results: Results indicated that when individuals had higher momentary emotional intelligence, they had lower disordered eating at the same time point (within subjects estimate = −0.30, p < .001) and following time point (within subjects estimate = −0.08, p = 0.03). Momentary stress moderated the relationship between baseline emotional intelligence and momentary disordered eating (b = −0.02, p < .01). Conclusions: Changes in emotional intelligence predict day-to-day changes in disordered eating, and stress moderates the connection between emotional intelligence and disordered eating.

Keywords:

• Disordered eating
• eating disorders
• ecological momentary assessment
• emotional intelligence
• stress

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ian MacFarlane and Jean Pretz for their support.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Elizabethtown College.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Elizabethtown College’s Summer Creative Arts and Research Program and Faculty Start-Up Funds.