Eating when depressed, anxious, bored, or happy: An examination in treatment-seeking adults with overweight/obesity.

Emotions that differ in valence are uniquely associated with eating. In our previous study with an online sample of adults with overweight/obesity, eating in response to depression was the type of emotional eating most closely associated with negative psychosocial correlates (Braden et al., 2018). The current study extended this research by examining associations between emotional eating types (eating in response to depression, anxiety, boredom, happiness) and psychological correlates among treatment-seeking adults. The present study was a secondary analysis of adults (N = 63; 96.8% female) with overweight/obesity and self-identified emotional eating who completed a baseline assessment for a behavioral weight loss intervention. Emotional eating in response to depression (EE-depression), anxiety/anger (EE-anxiety/anger), and boredom (EE-boredom) were assessed with the revised Emotional Eating Scale (EES-R), and positive emotional eating (EE-positive) was assessed with the positive emotions subscale of the Emotional Appetite Questionnaire (EMAQ). The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), Binge Eating Scale (BES), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9; depressive symptoms) were also administered. Frequencies showed the most endorsed emotional eating type was EE-depression (44.4%; n = 28). Four multiple regression analyses examined associations between emotional eating (EE-depression, EE-anxiety/anger, EE-boredom, and EE-positive) and dependent variables (EDE-Q, BES, DERS, and PHQ-9). Results showed that depression was the emotional eating type most closely related to disordered eating, binge eating, and depressive symptoms. Eating in response to anxiety was closely related to emotion regulation difficulties. Positive emotional eating was related to less depressive symptoms. Exploratory analyses showed that lower levels of positive emotional eating were related to higher depressive symptoms among adults with greater emotion regulation difficulties. Researchers and clinicians may consider tailoring weight loss treatment based on unique emotions that trigger eating.

An Open Trial Examining Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills and Behavioral Weight Loss for Adults With Emotional Eating and Overweight/Obesity.

Third-wave cognitive behavioral interventions for weight loss have shown promise. However, sparse data exists on the use of dialectical behavior therapy for weight loss. Adapted dialectical behavior therapy skills programs may be especially well suited for adults who engage in emotional eating and are seeking weight loss. Dialectical behavior therapy is skills-based, shares theoretical links to emotional eating, and is effective in treating binge eating. The current study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of Live FREE: FReedom from Emotional Eating, a 16-session group-based intervention. A total of 87 individuals expressed interest in the program, and 39 adults with overweight/obesity (BMI ≥25) and elevated self-reported emotional eating were enrolled. Live FREE targeted emotional eating in the initial sessions 1-9, and sessions 10-16 focused primarily on behavioral weight loss skills while continuing to reinforce emotion regulation training. Assessments were administered at baseline, posttreatment, and 6-month follow up. Enrolled participants were primarily female (97.4%) and Caucasian (91.7%). Treatment retention was strong with participants attending an average of 14.3 sessions and 89.7% of participants completing the intervention. On average, participants lost 3.00 kg at posttreatment, which was maintained at follow-up. Intent-to-treat analyses showed improvements in key outcome variables (self-reported emotional eating, BMI, emotion regulation) over the course of the intervention. Combining dialectical behavior therapy skills with conventional behavioral weight loss techniques may be an effective intervention for adults with overweight/obesity who report elevated emotional eating.

Emotion regulation mediates relationships between perceived childhood invalidation, emotional reactivity, and emotional eating.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is informed by the biosocial model which suggests that emotional sensitivity and childhood invalidation interact to influence emotion dysregulation, leading to behavioral disorders. Although adapted DBT interventions have resulted in improved emotional eating, little research has been conducted to examine whether key aspects of the biosocial model apply to emotional eating. Adults (N = 258) were enrolled via Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Three separate mediation analyses were performed using Hayes' SPSS macro. Results showed that emotion regulation difficulties mediated the relationships between biosocial variables (i.e. perceived maternal and paternal invalidation and emotional reactivity) and emotional eating.

Self-reported emotional eating is not related to greater food intake: results from two laboratory studies.

Objective: Despite widespread use of emotional eating self-report measures, the validity of these measures has been questioned. Most of this research has focused on the validity of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) as opposed to the Emotional Eating Scale (EES). The current paper describes two experimental studies that examined associations between self-reported emotional eating and emotional eating measured in the laboratory. To address previous design limitations, the current studies used highly palatable foods, effective mood induction methods, and the EES, in addition to the DEBQ. Design: In two samples of college students, participants were randomised to a neutral or negative mood induction. Main Outcome Measures: The traditional DEBQ and the original and revised versions of the EES were used to measure self-reported emotional eating. Emotional eating was assessed in the laboratory using a bogus taste test. Subjects were asked to taste various foods, and food intake was measured. Results: In both samples, self-reported emotional eating using the DEBQ and EES was unrelated to laboratory measured emotional eating (i.e. food consumed during the bogus taste test). Conclusion: Future research in this area would benefit from using diverse samples and development of novel methods of assessing emotional eating.