Randomized test of a brief psychological intervention to reduce and prevent emotional eating in a community sample

AbstractObjectiveIt is often assumed that there are substantial sex differences in eating behaviour (e.g. women are more likely to be dieters or emotional eaters than men). The present study investigates this assumption in a large representative community sample while incorporating a comprehensive set of psychological eating-related variables.DesignA community sample was employed to: (i) determine sex differences in (un)healthy snack consumption and psychological eating-related variables (e.g. emotional eating, intention to eat healthily); (ii) examine whether sex predicts energy intake from (un)healthy snacks over and above psychological variables; and (iii) investigate the relationship between psychological variables and snack intake for men and women separately. Snack consumption was assessed with a 7d snack diary; the psychological eating-related variables with questionnaires.SettingParticipants were members of an Internet survey panel that is based on a true probability sample of households in the Netherlands.SubjectsMen and women (n 1292; 45 % male), with a mean age of 51·23 (sd 16·78) years and a mean BMI of 25·62 (sd 4·75) kg/m2.ResultsResults revealed that women consumed more healthy and less unhealthy snacks than men and they scored higher than men on emotional and restrained eating. Women also more often reported appearance and health-related concerns about their eating behaviour, but men and women did not differ with regard to external eating or their intentions to eat more healthily. The relationships between psychological eating-related variables and snack intake were similar for men and women, indicating that snack intake is predicted by the same variables for men and women.ConclusionsIt is concluded that some small sex differences in psychological eating-related variables exist, but based on the present data there is no need for interventions aimed at promoting healthy eating to target different predictors according to sex.

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Comprehending emotional eating in a community sample. The role of parental rejection, peer rejection and emotion regulation

Appetite ◽

10.1016/j.appet.2014.12.014 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 89 ◽

pp. 304

Author(s):

J. Vandewalle ◽

E. Moens ◽

C. Braet

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Emotional Eating ◽

Peer Rejection ◽

Community Sample ◽

Parental Rejection

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Restrained Eating and Vegan, Vegetarian and Omnivore Dietary Intakes

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12072133 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 2133 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Anna Brytek-Matera

Keyword(s):

Healthy Eating ◽

Dietary Patterns ◽

Emotional Eating ◽

Psychological Intervention ◽

Vegan Diet ◽

Dietary Intakes ◽

Eating Pattern ◽

Cognitive Restraint ◽

Perseverative Thinking ◽

Omnivorous Diet

There are a significant number of studies on cognitive restraint among individuals with varying dietary patterns. Although most research has found that vegetarians report higher levels of cognitive restraint compared to non-vegetarians, many studies have contributed inconsistent results. The aim of the current study, therefore, was to assess any differences between groups with varying dietary patterns on cognitive restraint and other disordered eating pattern. The second objective was to examine determinants of cognitive restraint in individuals adhering to a vegan diet, a vegetarian diet and an omnivore diet. Two-hundred and fifty-four participants with varying dietary patterns completed the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire, the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire and the Eating Habits Questionnaire. Our results indicated that both vegetarian and vegan groups showed a significantly lower cognitive restraint, lower emotional eating and lower uncontrolled eating than those who followed an omnivorous diet. In addition, these both groups following a plant-based diet have shown more cognitions, behaviours and feelings related to an extreme focus on healthy eating (orthorexia nervosa) than group following an omnivorous diet. There were no significant differences between the groups in perseverative thinking. Core characteristics of repetitive negative thinking was a significant predictor of cognitive restraint in vegans. Feeling positively about healthy eating predicted cognitive restraint among vegetarians. Problems associated with healthy eating and feeling positively about healthy eating predicted cognitive restraint among individuals following an omnivorous diet. Knowledge of predictors of cognitive restraint may serve as a psychological intervention goal or psychoeducation goal among individuals with varying dietary patterns.

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Habitual Behavior as a Mediator Between Food-Related Behavioral Activation and Change in Symptoms of Depression in the MooDFOOD Trial

Clinical Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/2167702620979785 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 216770262097978

Author(s):

Matthew Owens ◽

Ed Watkins ◽

Mariska Bot ◽

Ingeborg A. Brouwer ◽

Miquel Roca ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Emotional Eating ◽

Behavioral Activation ◽

Community Sample ◽

Adaptive Responses ◽

Food Cues ◽

Symptoms Of Depression ◽

Uncontrolled Eating ◽

Overweight Adults

In this study, we tested potential mediators that may explain change in depressive symptoms following exposure to a food-related behavioral activation intervention (F-BA). These included behavioral activation, avoidance and rumination, eating styles, body mass index, and dietary behavior at baseline and 3-month and 12-month follow-up. The trial used a community sample of 1,025 overweight adults with elevated depressive symptoms without current major depression. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four trial arms: either daily nutritional supplements (vs. placebo) alone or in combination with F-BA (vs. no F-BA) over 12 months. Although F-BA did not significantly reduce depressive symptoms (standardized regression coefficient [ b] = −0.223, SE = 0.129; p = .084), significant mediators included emotional eating ( b = −0.028, SE = 0.014; p = .042) and uncontrolled eating ( b = −0.039, SE = 0.016; p = .013), suggesting that learning adaptive responses to emotional and food cues may underlie effects of F-BA on depressive symptoms.

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The ACTyourCHANGE in Teens Study Protocol: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-Based Intervention for Adolescents with Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Trial

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18126225 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (12) ◽

pp. 6225

Author(s):

Anna Guerrini Usubini ◽

Roberto Cattivelli ◽

Vanessa Bertuzzi ◽

Giorgia Varallo ◽

Alessandro Alberto Rossi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Weight Loss ◽

Psychological Assessment ◽

Emotional Eating ◽

Psychological Intervention ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Well Being ◽

Rehabilitation Program ◽

Psychological Conditions ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Acceptance And Commitment

This Randomized Controlled Trial [(RCT) aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-based intervention combined with treatment as usual (TAU) compared to TAU only in improving psychological conditions in a sample of adolescents with obesity (body mass index, BMI > 97th percentile for age and sex) within the context of a wider multidisciplinary rehabilitation program for weight loss. Fifty consecutive adolescents (12–17 years) of both genders with obesity will be recruited among the patients hospitalized in a clinical center for obesity rehabilitation and randomly allocated into two experimental conditions: ACT + TAU vs. TAU only. Both groups will attend a three-week in-hospital multidisciplinary rehabilitation program for weight loss. The ACT + TAU condition comprises a psychological intervention based on ACT combined with a standard psychological assessment and support to the hospitalization. The TAU comprises the standard psychological assessment and support to the hospitalization. At pre- to post-psychological intervention, participants will complete the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth, the Psychological Well-Being Scale, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and the Emotional Eating subscale of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire to assess psychological well-being as the primary outcome and experiential avoidance, psychological distress, emotional dysregulation, and emotional eating as secondary outcomes. Repeated-measures ANOVAs (2 × 2) will be conducted. The study will assess the effectiveness of a brief ACT-based intervention for adolescents with obesity in improving their psychological conditions by targeting specific core processes of the ACT framework (openness, awareness, and engagement). Future directions of the study will assess whether these psychological processes will contribute to addressing long-term weight loss.

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Negative and positive emotional eating uniquely interact with ease of activation, intensity, and duration of emotional reactivity to predict increased binge eating

10.31219/osf.io/cp429 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Wesley R. Barnhart ◽

Abby Braden ◽

Amy K. Jordan

Keyword(s):

Standard Deviation ◽

Binge Eating ◽

Online Community ◽

Emotional Eating ◽

Emotional Reactivity ◽

Community Sample ◽

The United States ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

The Relationship

Binge eating is present in obesity and clinical eating disorder populations and positively associated with poor health outcomes. Emotional eating may be related to binge eating, but relationships with emotional reactivity remain unexplored. The present study examined the relationships between negative and positive emotional eating and emotional reactivity in predicting binge eating. A cross-sectional study was employed using an online community sample in the United States. Participants (N = 258) completed surveys assessing negative (Emotional Eating Scale-Revised, depression subscale) and positive emotional eating (Emotional Appetite Questionnaire), negative and positive emotional reactivity (Perth Emotional Reactivity Scale), and binge eating (Binge Eating Scale). Six moderation analyses were calculated with negative and positive emotional reactivity (ease of activation, intensity, and duration) as moderators of the relationship between negative and positive emotional eating, respectively, and binge eating. Increased negative emotional eating was associated with increased binge eating when duration of negative emotional reactivity was 1 standard deviation above average (p < .001), but at 1 standard deviation below average (p < .001), increased negative emotional eating was associated with decreased binge eating. Increased positive emotional eating was associated with increased binge eating when intensity (p < .01) of positive emotional reactivity was 1 standard deviation above average and when activation (p < .05) of positive emotional reactivity was slightly above 1 standard deviation above average. Increased positive emotional eating was associated with decreased BE when intensity of positive emotional reactivity was 1 standard deviation below (p < .05) average. Emotional reactivity may uniquely impact the relationship between emotional eating and binge eating. Research and clinical implications for the contribution of negative and positive emotional eating and emotional reactivity on binge eating are discussed.

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Positive and Negative Emotional Eating Are Not the Same—The Spanish Version of the Positive-Negative Emotional Eating Scale (PNEES)

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.709570 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Javier Manchón ◽

María José Quiles ◽

Yolanda Quiles ◽

Sofía López-Roig

Keyword(s):

Binge Eating ◽

Convergent Validity ◽

Emotional Eating ◽

Community Sample ◽

Spanish Version ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Confirmatory Factor ◽

The Mean ◽

Eat 26 ◽

Mediator Variable

The literature points to the importance of distinguishing between positive and negative emotional eating in relation to overeating and binge eating. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Spanish version of the Positive-Negative Emotional Eating Scale (PNEES) in a Spanish community sample. The sample consisted of 628 participants. The mean age was 27.5 (SD = 12.7) and 70.1% of them were women. The participants completed the PNEES, and measures of anxiety and depression (HADS), and eating disorder-related scales (TFEQ-R18, BULIT-R, and EAT-26) that were selected to examine convergent validity. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted, replicating the original two-factor solution, consisting of Negative Emotional Eating (PNEES-N) and Positive Emotional Eating (PNEES-P). The results showed an acceptable fit of the model (CFI = 0.986; TLI = 0.984, RMSEA = 0.055). Internal consistency ranged from ω = 0.92 to ω = 0.96 for both subscales and the total score. PNEES-P correlations with other variables were lower with respect to the PNEES-N, showing that they are different constructs. A mediation analysis was conducted, in which PNEES-P significantly predicted binge eating and PNEES-N was a partially mediator variable. The results showed that the adaptation process was successful.

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Measurement Invariance of the Parent Version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Across Community and Clinical Populations

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000339 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 34 (4) ◽

pp. 238-246 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Iris A. M. Smits ◽

Meinou H. C. Theunissen ◽

Sijmen A. Reijneveld ◽

Maaike H. Nauta ◽

Marieke E. Timmerman

Keyword(s):

Measurement Invariance ◽

Clinical Sample ◽

Community Sample ◽

Strengths And Difficulties Questionnaire ◽

Emotional And Behavioral Problems ◽

Clinical Settings ◽

Favorable Result ◽

Strengths And Difficulties ◽

Parent Version ◽

Clinical Populations

Abstract. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a popular screening instrument for the detection of social-emotional and behavioral problems in children in community and clinical settings. To sensibly compare SDQ scores across these settings, the SDQ should measure psychosocial difficulties and strengths in the same way across community and clinical populations, that is, the SDQ should be measurement invariant across both populations. We examined whether measurement invariance of the parent version of the SDQ holds using data from a community sample (N = 707) and a clinical sample (N = 931). The results of our analysis suggest that measurement invariance of the SDQ parent version across community and clinical populations is tenable, implying that one can compare the SDQ scores of children across these populations. This is a favorable result since it is common clinical practice to interpret the scores of a clinical individual relative to norm scores that are based on community samples. The findings of this study support the continued use of the parent version of the SDQ in community and clinical settings.

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