Sleep, mood, and binge eating: evidence from a student sample

Objective: Binge eating is a transdiagnostic symptom that occurs along a continuum and is common in the general population. Sleep difficulties are widespread in clinical eating disorders populations and carry important implications for treatment and outcome; yet it remains unclear if similar difficulties occur in individuals with undiagnosed binge eating. The present study investigated the relationship between binge eating and sleep in an undiagnosed student sample, using both objective and subjective measures of sleep quality and duration. A secondary aim was to examine whether difficulties in emotional regulation contribute to this relationship.

Method: Sixty-nine participants without a diagnosis of an eating disorder were classified into low or moderate-to-high binge eating groups and completed a 7-day protocol in which sleep was continuously monitored via the MotionWatch 8. Validated self-report questionnaires were administered to assess low mood, sleep quality, eating disorder symptomatology, worry, daytime sleepiness, and chronotype. 

Results: Individuals with moderate-to-high binge eating reported poorer perceived sleep alongside higher levels of low mood and worry, despite no detectable differences in actigraphy derived sleep. Low mood – but not worry – emerged as a significant mediator of the relationship between sleep and binge eating. 

Discussion: Together, these findings highlight the importance of considering affective processes and sleep perception, rather than objective sleep alone, when examining sleep-binge eating links in undiagnosed populations. This may have important implications for sleep research in at-risk and undiagnosed eating disorders samples, as well as for the development of public health interventions.