# Exploring Sex Differences in the Relationship Between Emotion Regulation and Eating Disorders Symptoms During Early Adolescence

## TL;DR

This study explores how emotion regulation strategies relate to eating disorder symptoms in early adolescents, finding that maladaptive strategies like suppression and rumination are linked to worse symptoms, regardless of sex.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into how specific emotion regulation strategies predict eating disorder symptoms in early adolescence, without evidence of sex differences in these associations.

## Key findings

- Girls reported higher levels of brooding and reflective rumination compared to boys.
- Expressive suppression and brooding rumination predicted higher eating disorder symptom severity.
- Cognitive reappraisal and reflective rumination were not associated with eating disorder symptoms.

## Abstract

Difficulties in emotion regulation (ER) have been consistently associated with eating disorders (EDs). However, little is known about how this association operates during early adolescence, and the specific influence of sex. Objectives: This study aims to assess if maladaptive ER strategies predict greater ED symptomatology, while adaptive strategies predict lower levels of EDs symptoms among early adolescents. Additionally, the moderating effect of sex will also be assessed in these associations. Method: Ninety-eight Spanish-speaking adolescents aged 12–15 years (55 girls, 43 boys) participated in this study and completed a baseline assessment, including measures of EDs, adaptative (i.e., cognitive reappraisal) and maladaptive (i.e., expressive suppression and rumination) ER strategies. Independent sample t-tests were used to examine sex differences in age, ER, and ED symptoms. Hierarchical regression models assessed whether sex moderated the associations between ER strategies and ED symptoms. Results: Girls reported significantly higher levels of both brooding and reflective rumination compared to boys, but no sex differences were found in other measures. Regression analyses showed that expressive suppression and brooding rumination significantly predicted higher ED symptomatology, independent of sex. In contrast, cognitive reappraisal and reflective rumination were not associated with ED symptoms. No moderating effects of sex were observed in any model. Conclusions: Findings indicate that maladaptive ER strategies, particularly expressive suppression and ruminative brooding, predict greater ED symptom severity in early adolescence. However, sex did not moderate these relationships. These results underscore the importance of targeting maladaptive ER processes in adolescent prevention programs. Interventions focused on reducing maladaptive ER may be especially relevant at this developmental stage, when cognitive capacities for adaptive ER are still maturing.