Testing an emotion regulation model of physical activity in adolescents with anorexia nervosa: A pilot ecological momentary assessment.

Objective Adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN) often show increased levels of exercise and physical activity. Psychological models suggest that physical activity in AN might attenuate momentary negative affect. However, this has not been directly tested in adolescents with AN, and it remains unclear whether this is a distinct mechanism of physical activity in AN compared with healthy controls (HCs). Method In a 1-day ecological momentary assessment, 32 adolescent inpatients with AN and 30 HCs responded to hourly questions on momentary affect while wearing an actigraph to objectively assess physical activity. Results Linear mixed models identified that adolescents with AN experienced more …