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Purpose: Previous studies linking experiential avoidance (EA) and eating pathology have largely relied on single measurements based on traditional retrospective questionnaires. Taking advantage of available repeated assessments of EA and disordered eating behaviors (DEBs) in the everyday lives of young people from an epidemiological cohort, we aimed to investigate ecologically valid temporal associations between these constructs., Methods: A random population sample of N = 1180 14-21-year-olds from Dresden, Germany, participated at baseline (2015/2016). As part of smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA), participants reported on engagement in EA and four DEBs (skipping eating, eating large amounts of food, loss-of-control eating, and restrained eating) up to eight times per day for four days. Multilevel modeling of concurrent and time-lagged associations between EA and DEBs, was conducted among those with at least 50% EMA-compliance (n = 1069)., Results: EA was associated with higher concurrent levels of all four types of concurrent DEBs. In addition, EA significantly predicted subsequent levels of restrained eating. Only loss-of-control eating significantly predicted subsequent EA, and this effect depended on the timespan between consecutive assessments. When this timespan was short, higher Loss-of-control eating predicted lower subsequent EA, while it predicted higher subsequent EA when the timespan was longer., Conclusion: The present findings suggest that EA is temporally closely linked to greater engagement in DEBs, supporting theoretical assumptions that DEBs may serve an attempted avoidance function in the context of unpleasant inner experiences. Future studies may benefit from examining samples with more pronounced eating pathology., Level of Evidence: Level IV: Evidence obtained from multiple time series with or without the intervention, such as case studies., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Measures of dynamic changes in affect/emotions (variability, instability, inertia) have been linked to anxiety disorders (AD). We examine dynamics in affect, cognition and behavior in youth with current and remitted AD., Methods: Mental disorders were assessed in a general population sample (N = 1180, age 14-21; Dresden, Germany) using standardized interview. Ecological Momentary Assessment of real-life affect, cognition and behavior took place eight times/day for four days., Results: Individuals with current AD (n = 65) compared to healthy controls (HC, n = 531) revealed heightened variability of anxious and manic symptomatology, experiential avoidance, optimism and positive thoughts. Remitted AD (n = 52) showed lower variability of anxious and manic symptomatology and positive thoughts compared to current AD, while no differences were found compared to HC. Current AD and HC differed significantly in instability. Remitted AD showed lower instability of all constructs except for anger than current AD, and higher instability on all constructs except for positive and negative thoughts compared to HC. Current AD showed higher inertia of anger and negative thoughts than HC, and less inertia of positive thoughts than remitted AD., Discussion: AD in youths is particularly linked to higher variability and instability of intertwined emotion-related experiences that partly persist after remission, informing emotion regulation models and interventions., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Well-powered studies on the physiological concomitants underlying affect and its regulation during emerging adulthood are warranted to provide novel insight into mental health. The association between autonomic nervous system activity and emotional states occurring under natural conditions in daily life was investigated in individuals (N = 549, age 14-21, females 45.6%) without any lifetime mental disorder from an epidemiological cohort study in Germany. Using ecological momentary assessment, mood and optimism/pessimism were assessed over 4 days simultaneously with continuous heart rate monitoring. Lower vagal activity was found in mood states accompanied by high arousal (wakefulness, mania) and greater vagal activity in mood states with low arousal (calmness, pessimism). Findings illustrate important associations between autonomic nervous system activity and mood in youth under ecologically valid conditions. Vagal activity presents a prominent pathway by which mood may influence physiological function or vice versa. In contrast to commonly performed laboratory assessments, the ambulatory assessment in participants' daily life allows an application of the results to the field., (© 2021 The Authors. Psychophysiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Psychophysiological Research.)

Background: Prior research indicated, based on retrospective assessments of symptomatology, that 25% of individuals with "remitted" anxiety disorders (AD) experience a relapse. The present study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine how ADs affect everyday life among community adolescents and young adults with current or remitted AD compared to healthy controls and to each other., Methods: Data come from the baseline assessment of the epidemiological Behavior and Mind Health study, conducted in Dresden (Germany) from 11/2015-12/2016. The sub-sample analyzed (n = 648, age 14-21) consisted of 65 participants with current DSM-5 AD-diagnosis, 52 participants with lifetime AD-diagnosis but not within the last 6 months (remitted), and 531 healthy controls (no psychopathology; healthy controls [HC]). EMA of various constructs took place 8 times a day for 4 days., Results: The highest levels of symptoms were reported by those with current AD, followed by remitted AD and HC. Regression analyses revealed significantly worse mood, self-efficacy, quality of life and sleep-quality and more experiential avoidance, stress, negative thoughts and pessimism in remitted and current AD compared to HC. Current AD additional differed significantly from HC in optimism and positive thoughts. Furthermore, individuals with remitted AD without comorbidities differed significantly from HC on five out of 16 constructs., Conclusion: Not only current but also remitted AD is associated with diverse negative experiences in everyday life, which cannot merely be explained by comorbidities. As the remaining burden and impairment in individuals with remitted AD might contribute to relapse, interventions might be targeted to improve mental health., (© 2021 The Authors. Depression and Anxiety Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Experiences of tension and difficulties in emotion regulation have been linked to eating pathology in clinical samples and are targeted in respective treatment approaches. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of tension on engagement in disordered eating behaviors (DEBs) and potential moderating effects of trait emotion regulation in young people from the general population. A subsample of 971 adolescents and young adults from an epidemiological cohort study reported on levels of tension and four different DEBs (skipping eating, restrained eating, eating large amounts of food, loss‐of‐control‐eating) via ecological momentary assessment (EMA), as well as on trait emotion regulation via questionnaire. In multilevel models, momentary tension did not predict levels of subsequent DEBs. However, higher average levels of tension across the EMA period predicted higher levels of all DEBs. No interactions with emotion regulation emerged. Individuals experiencing overall higher levels of tension appear to be more prone to engaging in DEBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]