Tyler B. Mason, PhD

Tyler Mason, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at George Mason University and Director of the Biobehavioral Research on Eating and Appetite Dysregulation (BREAD) lab. Broadly, his research interests include the etiology and treatment of eating disorders and obesity among youth and young adults. Specifically, this research focuses on transactional influences of social, cognitive, and affective processes on appetite and eating behaviors. Much of this research uses ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to measure the momentary processes that maintain various eating and diet behaviors, with a primary focus on binge eating and loss of control eating. Ultimately, the goal of this research is to develop novel theoretically driven interventions and preventions for eating disorders and obesity. Further, he is interested in the use of advanced statistical methodology to further obesity and eating disorders research including multilevel modeling, latent variable modeling, and network analysis. His research has culminated in over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and his research has been featured in top journals such as Psychological Bulletin, Health Psychology, Obesity, and the International Journal of Eating Disorders. In addition, he has received over one million dollars in funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), and National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) for his research on momentary models of adolescent eating behavior as well as a novel nutrition intervention in diverse populations. Finally, Dr. Mason serves as an Associate Editor for Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being and serves on the editorial boards of three international peer-reviewed journals: International Journal of Eating Disorders, Eating Behaviors, and Eating and Weight Disorders.

Degree

PhD., Health Psychology, Old Dominion University, 2015

Research

Research/Scholarship Interests

• Eating disorders
• Obesity and nutrition
• E-cigarettes for weight control
• Adolescent and young adult health
• Ecological momentary assessment

Selected Publications

Mason, T. B., *Hernandez, D., *Morales, J. C., & Dunton, G. F. (2026). Ecological momentary assessment of impulsivity and overeating and loss of control eating in adolescents. European Eating Disorders Review, 34(1), 71-78. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.70010

Romano, K. A., Panza, E., Hooper, L., Peterson, C. B., & Mason, T. B. (2025). (Mis)matches in the gender and racial identities of daily weight stigma perpetrators and targets relative to targets’ daily disordered eating behaviors: Examining differences between women with Black versus White racial identities. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 125(12), 1841-1852. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2025.07.002

*Luo, Y., *Morales, J. C., Dunton, G. F., & Mason, T. B. (2025). Assessment of EMA binge-eating symptoms in adolescents: Factor analysis and associations with social context and food types. Appetite, 214, 108212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2025.108212

*Morales, J. C., Smith, K. E., & Mason, T. B. (2025). Ecological momentary assessment of weight-related stress predicting eating disorder and affective symptoms. Body Image, 53, 101891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2025.101891

Smith, K. E., Hsu, E., Mason, T. B., & Luo, S. (2025). Neural and behavioral correlates of binge eating in 9- to 10-year old children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 64(4), 475-487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2024.07.925

Mason, T. B. (2024). Interactions of parental feeding characteristics and emotional eating in relation to unhealthful food and sugar-sweetened beverage intake among adolescents. Appetite, 193, 107125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2023.107125

Mason, T. B., Tackett, A. P., Smith, C. E., & Leventhal, A. M. (2022). Tobacco product use for weight control as an eating disorder behavior: Recommendations for future clinical and public health research. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 55, 313-317. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23651

Mason, T. B., Smith, K. E., Anderson, L. M., & Hazzard, V. M. (2021). Anhedonia, positive affect dysregulation, and risk and maintenance of binge-eating disorder. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 54, 287-292. https://doi.org/10.1002/EAT.23433

*MacIntyre, R., Heron, K. E., Crosby, R. D., Engel, S. G., Wonderlich, S. A., & Mason, T. B. (2021). Measurement of the influences of social processes in appetite using ecological momentary assessment. Appetite, 161, 105126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105126

Mason, T. B., *Do, B., *Wang, S., & Dunton, G. F. (2020). Ecological momentary assessment of eating and dietary intake behaviors in children and adolescents: A systematic review of the literature. Appetite, 144, 104465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2019.104465

Honors and Awards

NIH Loan Repayment Award Renewal, National Institute of Mental Health, 2022-2023

NIH Loan Repayment Award Renewal, National Institute of Mental Health, 2021-2022

Early Career Investigator Award, Society for Behavioral Medicine, 2021

NIH Loan Repayment Award Renewal, National Institute of Mental Health, 2020-2021

NIH Loan Repayment Award Renewal, National Institute of Mental Health, 2019-2020

Travel Award, Indiana University Mathematical Sciences Short Course, 2019

HBRSA Faculty Mentoring Award, USC Health Behavior Research Student Association, 2019

Selected Attendee, Physical Activity and Public Health (PAPH) Course, 2018

NIH Loan Repayment Award, National Institute of Mental Health, 2017-2019

Early Career Investigator Travel Fellowship, Academy for Eating Disorders, 2017

Student Travel Award, American Psychological Association, 2014

RISE Research Award Honorable Mention, Association for Psychological Science, 2014

RISE Research Award Honorable Mention Association for Psychological Science, 2013

Student Travel Grant, ODU Student Engagement & Enrollment Services, 2012