Previous research has suggested that emotion regulation strategies (ERSs) are associated with abnormal eating behaviors and attitudes (AEBs). Available data have demonstrated that frequent rumination, a major maladaptive ERS, is associated with elevated AEBs, whereas adaptive ERSs, such as problem-solving and cognitive reappraisal, showed negative associations with AEBs. Most previous studies examined the association of a single ERS with AEBs. Therefore, any significant associations between an individual ERS and AEB reported in previous research might stem from spurious correlations. The current cross-sectional study sought to examine simultaneous associations of four ERSs (rumination, problem-solving, distraction, and cognitive reappraisal) with two categories of ED symptoms (i.e., drive for thinness and bulimic symptoms) in early adolescents in Japan (ages 10–15, N = 5301). Participants self-reported their use of the different ERSs and the ED symptoms. We found certain ERSs were uniquely associated with levels of drive for thinness and bulimic symptoms even after controlling for body mass index, depression, and socioeconomic status. Particularly, frequent rumination in both boys and girls was associated with a severe drive for thinness and bulimic symptoms. Regarding adaptive strategies, frequent uses of problem-solving was associated with decreased bulimic symptoms only in girls, with the effect size being small. In addition, contrary to our expectation, greater use of distraction was associated with elevated AEBs, except the association with drive for thinness in boys. Although this study extended findings of previous research, prospective studies are required to clarify the causal relationship between ERSs and eating pathology.

先前的研究表明，情绪调节策略（ERS）与异常饮食行为和态度（AEB）相关。现有数据表明，频繁反刍（一种主要的适应不良的ERS）与AEB升高有关，而适应性ERS（如解决问题和认知重新评估）则与AEB呈负相关。以前的大多数研究都检查了单个ERS与AEB的关联。因此，先前研究中报道的单个ERS与AEB之间的任何重要关联都可能源于虚假关联。当前的横断面研究旨在研究四种ERS（反省，解决问题，分心和认知重新评估）与两种ED症状（即，ñ = 5301）。参与者自我报告了他们使用不同的ERS和ED症状的情况。我们发现，即使在控制了体重指数，抑郁症和社会经济地位之后，某些ERS也与瘦弱和脓肿症状的驱动水平具有独特的关联。特别是，男孩和女孩的频繁反刍与瘦弱和脓肿症状的严重驱使有关。关于适应性策略，仅在女孩中频繁使用解决问题的方法即可减少脓毒症症状，且影响较小。另外，与我们的预期相反，除了男孩的瘦身驱动外，更多地使用分散注意力与AEB升高有关。尽管此研究扩展了先前研究的结果，