Internalizing symptoms modulate real-world affective response to sweet food and drinks in children

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to examine affective response to sweet foods and drinks as a function of children's internalizing symptoms using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). A sample of 192 8-12-year-old children completed a self-report measure of internalizing symptoms and EMA prompts of affect and food intake for eight days, excluding time at school. There was an interaction between sweet food intake and internalizing symptoms for positive affect and for sweet drink intake and internalizing symptoms for negative affect. Those low in internalizing symptoms had significantly lower positive affect after consumption of sweet foods compared to when they did not consume sweet foods whereas those higher in internalizing symptoms had slightly, but not significantly, higher positive affect after consumption of sweet foods. Those low in internalizing symptoms had significantly higher negtive affect after consumption of sweet drinks compared to when they did not consume sweet drinks whereas those higher in internalizing symptoms had slightly, but not significantly, lower negative affect after consumption of sweet drinks. Findings highlight the ways in which internalizing symptoms may modulate affective response to sweet foods and drinks.

Keywords: Affective response; Children; Eating behavior; Internalizing symptoms; Obesity prevention.