Research suggests that individuals with eating disorders use more putatively maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and fewer putatively adaptive strategies. However, there is growing theoretical and empirical support for the notion that the efficacy of emotion regulation strategies varies across situations. Thus, successful emotion regulation is characterized by the ability to flexibly choose between emotion regulation strategies in order to fit one's situational needs. Despite growing support for this conceptualization of successful emotion regulation, no research has investigated it in relation to disordered eating. Using the emotion regulation choice paradigm, this study investigated the association between emotion regulation flexibility and disordered eating. Women (N = 50) completed self-report questionnaires and a laboratory-based emotion regulation choice task to assess emotion regulation flexibility. Results indicated that lower emotion regulation flexibility was associated with more frequent purging and excessive exercise. Emotion regulation flexibility was not significantly associated with binge eating or overall eating disorder psychopathology. These findings suggest that individuals who engage in unhealthy compensatory behaviors exhibit reduced emotion regulation flexibility. If replicated in clinical samples, treatment for eating disorders characterized by compensatory behaviors may benefit from incorporating additional strategies to help people utilize emotion regulation strategies in a flexible, situationally appropriate manner.

研究表明，患有饮食失调症的人使用了更多的假定的适应不良情绪调节策略，并减少了假定的适应策略。但是，越来越多的理论和经验支持这种观点，即情绪调节策略的效果随情况而变化。因此，成功的情绪调节的特征是能够在情绪调节策略之间灵活选择以适应个人情况的能力。尽管人们越来越支持这种成功的情绪调节概念，但尚无研究针对饮食失调进行研究。本研究使用情绪调节选择范式，研究了情绪调节灵活性与饮食失调之间的关系。妇女（N = 50）完成自我报告调查表和基于实验室的情绪调节选择任务，以评估情绪调节的灵活性。结果表明，较低的情绪调节灵活性与更频繁的排便和过度运动有关。情绪调节的灵活性与暴饮暴食或整体进食障碍的心理病理没有显着相关。这些发现表明，从事不健康代偿行为的人表现出降低的情绪调节灵活性。如果在临床样本中复制，以补偿行为为特征的饮食失调的治疗可能会受益于合并其他策略，以帮助人们以灵活，因地制宜的方式利用情绪调节策略。