Role of autonomic arousal in binge eating through a Path Analysis: the role of hypercontrol and the impact on body mass index

Introduction: Clinical psychophysiology studies documented a link between some physiological parameters in eating disorders. This work aimed to investigate the association between increased basal sympathetic arousal and binge eating, a typical behavior of those who regulate emotions through food intake. Furthermore, we explored the possible relationship between binge eating and body mass index (BMI). Methods: This cross-sectional research involved 63 university students from some of the healthcare courses of the University of Parma, aged between 18 and 49 years. All subjects were assessed by the Psychophysiological Stress Profile (PSP) and the Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI-3) was administered. Furthermore, their BMI was calculated. Results: A Path Analysis was conducted and demonstrated that overcontrol fully mediated the relationship between autonomic arousal (i.e., baseline skin conductance) and binge eating (Z=-2.18; p<0.05), which, in turn, significantly predicted BMI (ß=0.34; p<0.001). Conclusions: These results confirmed that alterations in eating behavior might originate from autonomic imbalance and favor an increase in BMI. Further studies are needed to highlight the causality between autonomic arousal, overcontrol, emotional dysregulation associated with binge eating, and BMI.