Tyler Mason, PhD

Email: tylermas@usc.edu

Education and Training

NIMH T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Eating Disorders
Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Fargo, ND

Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
Ph.D. in Applied Psychological Science

Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
M.S. in Experimental Psychology

Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
B.S. in Psychology

Background

Tyler Mason, Ph.D., is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California and Associate Director of the Real-Time Eating Activity and Children’s Health (REACH) lab. Broadly, his research interests include the etiology and treatment of eating disorders and obesity. In particular, his research studies trait- and state-based processes that affect individuals ability to engage in self-regulation and goal-directed behaviors among diverse groups such as adults, children, and minorities. Specifically, he investigates how the interplay of factors such as affect, executive functioning, and social stressors are associated with unhealthy behaviors in the context of regulatory, control, and goal theories. Much of this research uses ecological momentary assessment to measure the momentary processes that maintain various eating and diet behaviors and physical activity. Further, he is interested in the use of advanced statistical methodology to further obesity and eating disorder research including multilevel modeling, latent variable modeling, and network analysis. His research has culminated in over 80 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. Finally, he serves on the editorial boards of two international peer-reviewed journals: Eating Behaviors and Eating and Weight Disorders.

Current Projects

1) USC Brain Influences on Teens’ Eating (BITE) study 
This study will examine how biobehavioral measures of inhibitory control are associated with real-world eating and dietary intake behaviors of adolescents and how inhibitory control modulates associations between contextual factors and eating and dietary intake behaviors.
 
2) USC Mobile Eating, Appetite, and Lifestyle (MEAL) study 
This study will characterize various eating patterns in daily life and investigate diagnostic and theoretical overlap between food addiction and binge-eating disorder.
 
3) Binge Eating Ecological Momentary Assessment (BEEMA) study
This completed study examined how trait-based neurocognitive factors and momentary contextual factors are related to binge eating in a transdiagnostic sample of women.
 
Smith, K. E., Mason, T. B., Crosby, R. D., Engel, S. G., & Wonderlich, S. A. (2019). A multimodal, naturalistic investigation of relationships between behavioral impulsivity, affect, and binge eating. Appetite, 136, 50-57. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2019.01.014
 
Mason, T. B., Smith, K. E., Crosby, R. D., Engel, S. G., & Wonderlich, S. A. (in press). Examination of momentary maintenance factors and eating disorder behaviors and cognitions using ecological momentary assessment. Eating Disorders: Journal of Treatment and Prevention. doi:10.1080/10640266.2019.1613847
 
Howard, L. M., Heron, K. E., Smith, K. E., Crosby, R. D., Engel, S. G., Wonderlich, S. A., & Mason, T. B. (in press). Examining the real-world predictive validity of the Power of Food Scale using Ecological Momentary Assessment. Eating and Weight Disorders. doi:10.1007/s40519-020-00871-1
 

Opportunities

I will be accepting doctoral students to the Health Behavior Research PhD program for Fall 2021 admission.