Sex differences in the longitudinal associations of emotional states and disinhibited eating

Recent studies have consistently supported that negative affect has been broadly implicated in the onset and maintenance of disinhibited eating among females, while few studies have longitudinally explored the association between emotional states and disinhibited eating both in males and females. This study aimed to explore the sex differences in the longitudinal associations of emotional states (containing both positive affect and negative affect) and disinhibited eating over a six-month time span among 1062 adolescents (baseline M_age = 14.77 years; 41.8% boys) from China. The data were collected in two waves (baseline and six months later), during which adolescents reported their emotional states (positive and negative affect) and disinhibited eating using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire. Cross-lagged panel models were applied to examine the stability, cross-sectional relations, and cross-lagged effects between adolescents’ emotional states and disinhibited eating over time. The results support a reciprocal relations model of negative affect and disinhibited eating in adolescent girls, and a prediction model of ‘’disinhibited eating→negative affect’’ in adolescent boys. Our findings advanced the literature by elucidating sex differences in the longitudinal relations between emotional states and disinhibited eating.