scholarly journals Application of three different coaching strategies through a virtual coach for people with emotional eating: a vignette study

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aranka Dol ◽  
Christina Bode ◽  
Hugo Velthuijsen ◽  
Tatjana van Strien ◽  
Lisette van Gemert-Pijnen
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Emotional Eating ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Eating Behaviour ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Adult Women ◽  
Food Cravings ◽  
Vignette Study ◽  
Coaching Strategies ◽  
Applied Design

Abstract Background Around 13% of the world’s population suffers from obesity. More than 40% of people with obesity display emotional eating behaviour (eating in response to negative emotions or distress). It is an alternate to more effective coping strategies for negative emotions. Our study explored the opportunities for helping adults with emotional overeating using a virtual coach, aiming to identify preferences for tailored coaching strategies applicable in a personal virtual coach environment. Three different coaching strategies were tested: a validating, a focus-on-change, and a dialectical one – the latter being a synthesis of the first two strategies. Methods A qualitative study used vignettes reflecting the two most relevant situations for people with emotional eating: 1. experiencing negative emotions, with ensuing food cravings; and 2. after losing control to emotional eating, with ensuing feelings of low self-esteem. Applied design: 2 situations × 3 coaching strategies. Participants: 71 adult women (Mage 44.4/years, range 19–70, SD = 12.86) with high scores on the DEBQ-emotional eating scale (Memo 3.65, range 1.69–4.92, SD = .69) with mean BMI 30.1 (range 18–46, SD = 6.53). They were recruited via dieticians’ practices, were randomly assigned to the conditions and asked how they would face and react to the presented coaching strategies. Data were transcribed and a thematic analysis was conducted. Results Qualitative results showed that participants valued both the validating coaching strategy and the focus-on-change strategy, but indicated that a combination of validation and focus-on-change provides both mental support and practical advice. Data showed that participants differed in their level of awareness of the role that emotions play in their overeating and the need for emotion-regulation skills. Conclusion The design of the virtual coach should be based on dialectical coaching strategies as preferred by participants with emotional eating behaviour. It should be tailored to the different stages of awareness of their emotions and individual emotion-regulation skills.

scholarly journals Consumption of fruit, vegetables, sweets and soft drinks are associated with psychological dimensions of eating behaviour in parents and their 12-year-old children

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 914-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Elfhag ◽  
Sanna Tholin ◽  
Finn Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Emotional Eating ◽  
Soft Drink ◽  
Eating Behaviour ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Soft Drinks ◽  
Restrained Eating ◽  
Food Cues ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Psychological Dimensions

AbstractObjectiveWe investigated associations between consumption of fruits, vegetables, sweets and soft drinks and the psychological dimensions of eating in parents and their children. The role of the parent’s characteristics for their children’s food intake was also explored.DesignFood intake patterns were assessed by self-reported consumption of the respective foods. Eating behaviour was measured by the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire and self-esteem by Harter self-perception scale. The participants were 1441 families (mother, father and their 12-year-old child), and additionally 354 mothers and thirty fathers.ResultsAmong parents, reported intake of fruit and vegetables were associated with restrained eating, higher self-esteem, and higher education and age. Intake of sweets was related to more external and less restrained eating, and for mothers also emotional eating. Parent’s intake of soft drink was foremost related to a younger age, and also weakly associated with psychological characteristics. The food intake of parents was more important for the children’s food intake than any other characteristics. However, children’s intake of sweets showed clear-cut positive associations with external eating.ConclusionsPsychological dimensions of eating behaviour are associated with patterns of food intake, in particular for consumption of sweets, and are most prominent in the parents. The children’s food intake mirrored their parents’ intake. Being sensitive to external food cues may increase unhealthy food consumption in our society, whereas more restrained eating may indicate proneness or intention to healthier food choices among parents. Emotional eating may imply a proneness to consume sweets for comfort, in particular among mothers.

scholarly journals Emotional Inertia and Psychological Maladjustment

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 984-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Kuppens ◽  
Nicholas B. Allen ◽  
Lisa B. Sheeber
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Fundamental Property ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Psychological Maladjustment ◽  
Emotion Dynamics ◽  
Positive And Negative Emotions

In this article, we examine the concept of emotional inertia as a fundamental property of the emotion dynamics that characterize psychological maladjustment. Emotional inertia refers to the degree to which emotional states are resistant to change. Because psychological maladjustment has been associated with both emotional underreactivity and ineffective emotion-regulation skills, we hypothesized that its overall emotion dynamics would be characterized by high levels of inertia. We provide evidence from two naturalistic studies that, using different methods, showed that the emotional fluctuations of individuals who exhibited low self-esteem (Study 1) and depression (Study 2) were characterized by higher levels of inertia in both positive and negative emotions than the emotional fluctuations of people who did not exhibit low self-esteem and depression. We also discuss the usefulness of the concept of emotional inertia as a hallmark of maladaptive emotion dynamics.

scholarly journals Emotional eating in healthy individuals and patients with an eating disorder: evidence from psychometric, experimental and naturalistic studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Reichenberger ◽  
Rebekka Schnepper ◽  
Ann-Kathrin Arend ◽  
Jens Blechert
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Binge Eating ◽  
Emotional Eating ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Eating Behaviour ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
General Validity

Emotional eating has traditionally been defined as (over)eating in response to negative emotions. Such overeating can impact general health because of excess energy intake and mental health, due to the risks of developing binge eating. Yet, there is still significant controversy on the validity of the emotional eating concept and several theories compete in explaining its mechanisms. The present paper examines the emotional eating construct by reviewing and integrating recent evidence from psychometric, experimental and naturalistic research. Several psychometric questionnaires are available and some suggest that emotions differ fundamentally in how they affect eating (i.e. overeating, undereating). However, the general validity of such questionnaires in predicting actual food intake in experimental studies is questioned and other eating styles such as restrained eating seem to be better predictors of increased food intake under negative emotions. Also, naturalistic studies, involving the repeated assessment of momentary emotions and eating behaviour in daily life, are split between studies supporting and studies contradicting emotional eating in healthy individuals. Individuals with clinical forms of overeating (i.e. binge eating) consistently show positive relationships between negative emotions and eating in daily life. We will conclude with a summary of the controversies around the emotional eating construct and provide recommendations for future research and treatment development.

scholarly journals Emotional eating and obesity in adults: the role of depression, sleep and genes

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Konttinen
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Emotional Eating ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Eating Behaviour ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Night Sleep ◽  
Treatment Interventions ◽  
Internal States ◽  
Behavioural Mechanism

Stress and other negative emotions, such as depression and anxiety, can lead to both decreased and increased food intake. The term ‘emotional eating’ has been widely used to refer to the latter response: a tendency to eat in response to negative emotions with the chosen foods being primarily energy-dense and palatable ones. Emotional eating can be caused by various mechanisms, such as using eating to cope with negative emotions or confusing internal states of hunger and satiety with physiological changes related to emotions. An increasing number of prospective studies have shown that emotional eating predicts subsequent weight gain in adults. This review discusses particularly three lines of research on emotional eating and obesity in adults. First, studies implying that emotional eating may be one behavioural mechanism linking depression and development of obesity. Secondly, studies highlighting the relevance of night sleep duration by showing that adults with a combination of shorter sleep and higher emotional eating may be especially vulnerable to weight gain. Thirdly, an emerging literature suggesting that genes may influence body weight partly through emotional eating and other eating behaviour dimensions. The review concludes by discussing what kind of implications these three avenues of research offer for obesity prevention and treatment interventions.

Response to Leaflets About Eating and Shape by Women Concerned About Their Weight

1992 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan J. Blair ◽  
Vivien J. Lewis ◽  
David A. Booth
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Emotional Eating ◽  
Weight Control ◽  
Eating Behaviour ◽  
Size Control ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
One Year

Concern about body weight and shape is commonly allied with dysfunctional self-concepts and eating behaviour. When provided with group therapy structured around written handouts addressing these problems, women referred for weight control have improved in their self-esteem, assertiveness, attitudes to body size, control of emotional eating, self-efficacy about weight and susceptibility to cyclic dieting, improvements which were maintained to follow-up. The present study examined the effects of the handouts alone on 27 women who actively attempted to control their weight. Relative to a sample matched for initial scores on the target variables, reported incidences of emotional eating and vigour of dieting were significantly reduced over a period of one year in the sample who received the bibliotherapy. Also, perceived body size, weight assertiveness, self-efficacy about weight control and body mass index all moved in the predicted direction, relative to controls, but not to a statistically significant degree. Such bibliotherapy on eating and shape is recommended as an adjunct to group or individual psychotherapy or to initiate change in clients waiting for professional counsel.

scholarly journals Interactions of obesity associated behaviours, BMI, age, sex, and FTO genotype

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Hanan Abdella
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Emotional Eating ◽  
Caloric Intake ◽  
Eating Behaviour ◽  
Eating Behaviours ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Food Cravings ◽  
Cognitive Restraint ◽  
Behavioural Regulation ◽  
Uncontrolled Eating

Obesity is a complicated condition which occurs due to interactions between many contributing physiological, psychological and genetic factors. Age, sex and body mass index (BMI) are also important in the interaction with obesity-related factors leading to a rise in this epidemic. Knowledge about the interactions that happen between these factors provides a basis for the development of body mass-reducing interventions for people with obesity. Eating behaviours affect caloric intake and are implicated in the development of obesity. Three types of eating behaviours namely; 1) cognitive restraint, 2) emotional eating and 3) uncontrolled eating have been studied for associations with obesity in various populations. Food cravings refer to an irresistible urge to eat a specific type of food which has been implied to contribute to a loss of control over eating. The experience of food cravings is related to higher BMI and obesity. Motivation to exercise is also an important factor that influences people´s eating habits as shown in previous studies. A taxonomy where motivation is organised in the form of a continuum that covers the different degrees of self-determination of behaviour, from the non-self-determined, to the self-determined, established three types of motivation (amotivation, extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation) and a series of behavioural regulation stages (amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation and intrinsic regulation). Problems with emotional regulation may contribute to the development and maintenance of abnormal eating behaviour. Alexithymia is defined as an inability to describe and/or recognise one's own emotions and is considered a common feature in eating disorders. Alexithymia is likely to be associated with problems in modulating affect and with difficulties in the interpersonal and social realm. The programme of research as part of this PhD was conducted on 424 volunteers from Sheffield Hallam University students and staff, and there were 183 participants of weight-loss interventions. Eating behaviours were measured using the revised Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R18); food cravings were measured by the food cravings inventory (FCI), motivation for exercise using the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2 (BREQ-2) and alexithymia was measured by The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS 20). DNA samples were genotyped using the TaqMan method for the rs9939609 polymorphism in the obesity-associated gene FTO. Questionnaire data were analysed for associations between the TFEQ-R18 and FCI, BREQ2 and TAS20 subscales for the whole study group, and the group divided by sex, genotype, age (≤ 25 years vs > 25 years) and BMI (<30kg/m² and ≥30kg/m²). Regression and mediation analyses were used to explore the relationships between BMI, eating behaviours, food cravings, motivation to exercise and alexithymia. The key findings from each of the experimental chapters in this thesis is 1) Increased cognitive restraint was associated with decreased food craving scores in the ≤ 25 years group; in this group the association between BMI and reduced food cravings was mediated by cognitive restraint indicating that in this age group individuals use cognitive restraint to control their food cravings. 2) Motivation to exercise interacts with eating behaviours and high motivation to exercise is associated with low BMI, people with obesity were less motivated than non-obese, emotional eating is the mediator between external regulations and high BMI. 3) There is a positive relationship between BMI and alexithymia in females, but in contrast there is an inverse relationship in men. The relationship between BMI and alexithymia was stronger in the AA+ AT genotype group than TT genotype. Uncontrolled eating and emotional eating mediate the effect of alexithymia on BMI and this is different between males and females and between genotype groups; particularly in females with the risk genotype, alexithymia were associated with high uncontrolled eating and emotional eating and so higher BMI. Males and/or people with the TT genotype are less at risk of this influence of alexithymia on BMI. These findings will help in the treatment of obesity by informing personal intervention programmes for each person according to his or her situation.

Individual beliefs about emotion and perceptions of belief stability are associated with emotion dysregulation, interpersonal emotional attributes and psychological flexibility

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Veilleux ◽  
Garrett Pollert ◽  
kayla skinner ◽  
Danielle Baker ◽  
Kaitlyn Chamberlain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Emotion Dysregulation ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Psychological Flexibility ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Emotional Expressivity ◽  
Control Behavior ◽  
Interpersonal Emotion Regulation ◽  
Intelligence Beliefs

The beliefs people hold about emotion are clearly relevant for emotional processes, although the social psychological research on malleability or “lay” beliefs about emotion are rarely integrated with the clinical research on emotional schemas. In the current study, we examine a variety of beliefs about emotion (e.g., beliefs that emotions can be changed, beliefs that negative emotions are bad, beliefs that emotions should not be expressed, beliefs that emotions control behavior, beliefs that emotions last “forever”) along with other emotion belief measures and measures of psychopathology (general psychological distress, borderline personality), emotion dysregulation, interpersonal emotional attributions (emotional expressivity, interpersonal emotion regulation) and psychological flexibility (mindfulness, emotional intelligence). In a combined sample of undergraduates (n = 162) and adults from Mechanical Turk (n = 197), we found that beliefs about the longevity and uniqueness of emotions were unique predictors of psychopathology, even after controlling for age and gender. We also found that after controlling for symptoms of psychopathology, beliefs about longevity and that negative emotions are bad predicted greater emotion dysregulation and lower mindfulness. Beliefs that emotions should be kept to the self and a preference of logic over emotion predicted less emotional expressivity, interpersonal emotion regulation, and emotional intelligence. Beliefs that emotions control behavior also predicted lower mindfulness. Finally, when asked whether they think their beliefs change during strong emotions, people who said their beliefs change (about two-thirds of the sample) reported higher symptoms of psychopathology, higher emotion dysregulation, higher use of interpersonal regulation strategies and lower mindfulness.

Effects of Compassion on Employees' Self-regulation

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (7) ◽  
pp. 1173-1190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyung Jin Choi ◽  
Sangmin Lee ◽  
Se-Ri No ◽  
Eung Il Kim
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Workplace Deviance ◽  
Intention To Quit ◽  
Mediating Effects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Dependent Variables

We examined how compassion can alleviate employees' negative emotions, behaviors, and thoughts. On the basis of self-regulatory resources theory, we hypothesized that there would be relationships between the 2 mediating variables of self-esteem and self-efficacy, and the dependent variables of anxiety, burnout, workplace deviance, and intention to quit. We collected data on these variables from 284 nurses, who work in a stressful job that necessitates compassion from colleagues, to test our theoretical model. The results revealed that compassion alleviated negative emotions (anxiety and burnout), behavior (workplace deviance), and thoughts (intention to quit), with both self-esteem and self-efficacy having mediating effects. Thus, we demonstrated the specific path through which compassion can have positive effects on an organization's employees. We discuss the observed relationship between compassion and self-regulation, and theoretical contributions regarding differences between self-esteem and self-efficacy, as well as between anxiety and burnout.

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