Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T08:46:20.053Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Emotional Eating After Manipulating Emotion Regulation: A Laboratory Study in Adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2021

Taaike Debeuf Open the ORCID record for Taaike Debeuf [Opens in a new window] ,
Sandra Verbeken ,
Brenda Volkaert ,
Nathalie Michels ,
Jens Blechert  and
Caroline Braet
Taaike Debeuf*
Affiliation:
Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Sandra Verbeken
Affiliation:
Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Brenda Volkaert
Affiliation:
Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Nathalie Michels
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Jens Blechert
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Caroline Braet
Affiliation:
Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
*
*Corresponding author: Taaike Debeuf, Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. Email: taaike.debeuf@ugent.be
Get access

Abstract

It is often assumed that emotional eating occurs when an individual is unable to utilise emotion regulation (ER) to cope with stress. In this stress exposure study, we explored whether manipulating participants’ ER strategies (rumination or self-compassion) influenced their stress-related affect and food consumption. Fifty-three adolescents (Mage = 14.72) were included; half of the participants were instructed to use rumination as their ER strategy, and half were instructed to use self-compassion. We could not demonstrate that the ER strategies differently affected stress-related affect. However, we did find that increased Happiness following ER self-compassion predicted reduced High-Fat Sweet food consumption, whereas increased Happiness following ER rumination instead led to greater High-Fat Sweet food consumption. In participants who ruminated, food consumption reduced feelings of Frustration, but not Boredom or Happiness. Post-hoc exploration revealed that only ER self-compassion, not ER rumination, normalised levels of stress-related affect. The results highlight the need for more research into the complex relationship between ER strategies, affect states, and food types in their effect on emotional eating.

Keywords

emotion regulationemotional eatingstressadolescentsobesity
Type
Standard Paper
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , June 2022 , pp. 65 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aldao, A and Nolen-Hoeksema, S (2010). Specificity of cognitive emotion regulation strategies: A transdiagnostic examination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48, 974–983.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alemzadeh, R, Rising, R and Lifshitz, F (2007). Obesity in children. Pediatric Endocrinology, 1, 1–25.Google Scholar
Aparicio, E, Canals, J, Arija, V, De Henauw, S and Michels, N (2016). The role of emotion regulation in childhood obesity: Implications for prevention and treatment. Journal of Nutrition Research Reviews, 29, 17–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Apovian, CM (2013). The clinical and economic consequences of obesity. American Journal of Managed Care, 19, s219–s228.Google ScholarPubMed
Bartoskova, M, Sevcikova, M, Durisko, Z, Maslej, MM, Barbic, SP, Preiss, M and Andrews, PW (2018). The form and function of depressive rumination. Evolution and Human Behavior, 39, 277–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berking, M and Whitley, B (2014). Affect regulation training. Handbook of Emotion Regulation, 2, 529–547.Google Scholar
Blades, M (2009). Food and happiness. Nutrition & Food Science, 39, 449–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blechert, J, Lender, A, Polk, S, Busch, N and Ohla, K (2019). Food-pics extended—an image database for experimental research on eating and appetite: Additional images, normative ratings and an updated review. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braet, C and Van Strien, T (1997). Assessment of emotional, externally induced and restrained eating behaviour in nine to twelve-year-old obese and non-obese children. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35, 863–873.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braet, C, Claus, L, Goossens, L, Moens, E, Van Vlierberghe, L and Soetens, B (2008). Differences in eating style between overweight and normal-weight youngsters. Journal of Health Psychology, 13, 733–743. doi:10.1177/1359105308093850.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, SL, Schiraldi, GR and Wrobleski, PP (2009). Association of eating behaviors and obesity with psychosocial and familial influences. American Journal of Health Education, 40, 80–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chao, A, Grey, M, Whittemore, R, Reuning-Scherer, J, Grilo, CM and Sinha, R (2016). Examining the mediating roles of binge eating and emotional eating in the relationships between stress and metabolic abnormalities. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 39, 320–332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christley, R (2010). Power and error: Increased risk of false positive results in underpowered studies. The Open Epidemiology Journal, 3, 16–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, S, Kamarck, T and Mermelstein, R (1994). Perceived stress scale. Measuring Stress: A Guide for Health and Social Scientists, 10, 29–129.Google Scholar
Cracco, E, van Durme, K and Braet, C (2015). Validation of the FEEL-KJ: An instrument to measure emotion regulation strategies in children and adolescents. PLoS One, 10, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Debeuf, T, Verbeken, S, Van Beveren, M-L, Michels, N and Braet, C (2018). Stress and eating behavior: A daily diary study in youngsters. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2657.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Debeuf, T, Verbeken, S, Boelens, E, Volkaert, B, Van Malderen, E, Michels, N and Braet, C (2020). Emotion regulation training in the treatment of obesity in young adolescents: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials, 21, 153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Decker, A, Verbeken, S, Sioen, I, Moens, E, Braet, C and De Henauw, S (2017). Fat tissue accretion in children and adolescents: Interplay between food responsiveness, gender, and the home availability of snacks. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 2041.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Decker, A, Verbeken, S, Sioen, I, Van Lippevelde, W, Braet, C, Eiben, G, … De Henauw, S (2017). Palatable food consumption in children: Interplay between (food) reward motivation and the home food environment. European Journal of Pediatrics, 176, 465–474.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Vriendt, T, Moreno, LA and De Henauw, S (2009). Chronic stress and obesity in adolescents: Scientific evidence and methodological issues for epidemiological research. Nutrition, Metabolism Cardiovascular Diseases, 19, 511–519.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dixon, JB (2010). The effect of obesity on health outcomes. Modular and Cellular Endocrinology, 316, 104–108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ehret, AM, Joormann, J and Berking, M (2018). Self-compassion is more effective than acceptance and reappraisal in decreasing depressed mood in currently and formerly depressed individuals. Journal of Affective Disorders, 226, 220–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Epel, E, Lapidus, R, McEwen, B and Brownell, K (2001). Stress may add bite to appetite in women: A laboratory study of stress-induced cortisol and eating behavior. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 26, 37–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evers, C, Stok, M and de Ridder, DT (2010). Feeding your feelings: Emotion regulation strategies and emotional eating. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 792–804.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gisle, L., Drieskens, S., Demarest, S., & Van der Heyden, J. (2018). Geestelijke gezondheid: gezondheidsenquête 2018. Retrieved from: www.gezondheidsenquete.be.Google Scholar
Gross, J (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2, 271–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Habhab, S, Sheldon, JP and Loeb, RC (2009). The relationship between stress, dietary restraint, and food preferences in women. Appetite, 52, 437–444.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartgerink, CH, Van Beest, I, Wicherts, JM and Williams, KD (2015). The ordinal effects of ostracism: A meta-analysis of 120 Cyberball studies. PLoS One, 10, 1–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hill, DC, Moss, RH, Sykes-Muskett, B, Conner, M and O'Connor, DB (2018). Stress and eating behaviors in children and adolescents: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Appetite, 123, 14–22. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2017.11.109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hilt, LM and Pollak, SD (2013). Characterizing the ruminative process in young adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 42, 519–530.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koenders, PG and van Strien, T (2011). Emotional eating, rather than lifestyle behavior, drives weight gain in a prospective study in 1562 employees. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 53, 1287–1293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lazarus, R (1993). From psychological stress to the emotions – A history of changing outlooks. Annual Review of Psychology, 44, 1–21. doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.44.020193.000245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lazarus, R and Folkman, S (1986). Cognitive theories of stress and the issue of circularity. New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, E-H (2012). Review of the psychometric evidence of the perceived stress scale. Asian Nursing Research, 6, 121–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lench, HC, Flores, SA and Bench, SW (2011). Discrete emotions predict changes in cognition, judgment, experience, behavior, and physiology: A meta-analysis of experimental emotion elicitations. Psychological Bulletin, 137, 834.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Macht, M (2008). How emotions affect eating: A five-way model. Appetite, 50, 1–11. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2007.07.002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McClernon, FJ, Yancy, WS Jr, Eberstein, JA, Atkins, RC and Westman, EC (2007). The effects of a low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet and a low-fat diet on mood, hunger, and other self-reported symptoms. Obesity, 15, 182–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaughlin, KA and Nolen-Hoeksema, S (2012). Interpersonal stress generation as a mechanism linking rumination to internalizing symptoms in early adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 41, 584–597.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meule, A, Reichenberger, J and Blechert, J (2018). Development and preliminary validation of the Salzburg Emotional Eating Scale. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00088.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Michels, N, Sioen, I, Braet, C, Eiben, G, Hebestreit, A, Huybrechts, I, …, De Henauw, S (2012). Stress, emotional eating behaviour and dietary patterns in children. Appetite, 59, 762–769.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morris, AS, Silk, JS, Steinberg, L, Myers, SS and Robinson, LR (2007). The role of the family context in the development of emotion regulation. Social Development, 16, 361–388.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nguyen-Rodriguez, ST, Unger, JB and Spruijt-Metz, D (2009). Psychological determinants of emotional eating in adolescence. Eating Disorders, 17, 211–224. doi:10.1080/10640260902848543.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nishtar, S, Gluckman, P and Armstrong, T (2016). Ending childhood obesity: A time for action. The Lancet, 387, 825–827.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Connor, DB, Jones, F, Conner, M, McMillan, B and Ferguson, E (2008). Effects of daily hassles and eating style on eating behavior. Health Psychology, 27, S20–S31. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.27.1(Suppl.).S20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parsafar, P, Fontanilla, FL and Davis, EL (2019). Emotion regulation strategy flexibility in childhood: When do children switch between different strategies? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 183, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paulhus, DL and Vazire, S (2007). The self-report method. Handbook of Research Methods in Personality Psychology, 1, 224–239.Google Scholar
Peckett, A, Wright, D and Riddell, M (2011). The effects of glucocorticoids on adipose tissue lipid metabolism. Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental, 60, 1500–1510. doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2011.06.012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reichenberger, J, Kuppens, P, Liedlgruber, M, Wilhelm, FH, Tiefengrabner, M, Ginzinger, S and Blechert, J (2018). No haste, more taste: An EMA study of the effects of stress, negative and positive emotions on eating behavior. Biological Psychology, 131, 54–62. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.09.002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reilly, JJ and Kelly, J (2011). Long-term impact of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence on morbidity and premature mortality in adulthood: Systematic review. International Journal of Obesity, 35, 891–898. doi:10.1038/ijo.2010.222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ricciardelli, LA and McCabe, MP (2001). Children's body image concerns and eating disturbance: A review of the literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 325–344.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, E, Haynes, A, Hardman, CA, Kemps, E, Higgs, S and Jones, A (2017). The bogus taste test: Validity as a measure of laboratory food intake. Appetite, 116, 223–231.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roelants, M, Hauspie, R and Hoppenbrouwers, K (2009). References for growth and pubertal development from birth to 21 years in Flanders, Belgium. Annals of Human Biology, 36, 680–694. doi:10.3109/03014460903049074.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rood, L, Roelofs, J, Bögels, SM, Nolen-Hoeksema, S and Schouten, E (2009). The influence of emotion-focused rumination and distraction on depressive symptoms in non-clinical youth: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 29, 607–616.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, GE, Fair, PL, Salt, P, Mandel, MR and Klerman, GL (1976). Facial muscle patterning to affective imagery in depressed and nondepressed subjects. Science, 192, 489–491.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steindl, SR, Buchanan, K, Goss, K and Allan, S (2017). Compassion focused therapy for eating disorders: A qualitative review and recommendations for further applications. Clinical Psychologist, 21, 62–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strauss, C, Taylor, BL, Gu, J, Kuyken, W, Baer, R, Jones, F and Cavanagh, K (2016). What is compassion and how can we measure it? A review of definitions and measures. Clinical Psychology Review, 47, 15–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomiyama, AJ (2019). Stress and obesity. Annual Review of Psychology, 70, 703–718.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Torres, SJ and Nowson, CA (2007). Relationship between stress, eating behavior, and obesity. Nutrition, 23, 887–894.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Treynor, W, Gonzalez, R and Nolen-Hoeksema, S (2003). Rumination reconsidered: A psychometric analysis. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 27, 247–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trompetter, HR, de Kleine, E and Bohlmeijer, ET (2017). Why does positive mental health buffer against psychopathology? An exploratory study on self-compassion as a resilience mechanism and adaptive emotion regulation strategy. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 41, 459–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanaelst, B, Huybrechts, I, Bammann, K, Michels, N, de Vriendt, T, Vyncke, K, …, Henauw, S (2012). Intercorrelations between serum-, salivary- and hair-cortisol and child-reported estimates of stress in elementary school girls. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 3, doi:10.3402/ejpt.v3i0.19308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Beveren, M-L, Mezulis, A, Wante, L and Braet, C (2019). Joint contributions of negative emotionality, positive emotionality, and effortful control on depressive symptoms in youth. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 48, 131–142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vandewalle, J, Mabbe, E, Debeuf, T, Braet, C and Moens, E (2017). The daily relation between parental rejection and emotional eating in youngsters: A diary study. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00691.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Strien, T and Oosterveld, P (2008). The children's DEBQ for assessment of restrained, emotional, and external eating in 7-to 12-year-old children. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 41, 72–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Strien, T, Frijters, JER, Bergers, GPA and Defares, PB (1986). The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) for assessment of restrained, emotional, and external eating behavior. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 5, 295–315. doi:10.1002/1098-108X(198602)5:23.0.CO;2-T.3.0.CO;2-T>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wante, L, Van Beveren, M-L, Theuwis, L and Braet, C (2018). The effects of emotion regulation strategies on positive and negative affect in early adolescents. Cognition and Emotion, 32, 988–1002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, KD and Jarvis, B (2006). Cyberball: A program for use in research on interpersonal ostracism and acceptance. Behavior Research Methods, 38, 174–180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Winsky-Sommerer, R, Boutrel, B and de Lecea, L (2005). Stress and arousal. Molecular Neurobiology, 32, 285–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wyatt, SB, Winters, KP and Dubbert, PM (2006). Overweight and obesity: Prevalence, consequences, and causes of a growing public health problem. American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 331, 166–174. doi:10.1097/00000441-200604000-00002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zellner, DA, Loaiza, S, Gonzalez, Z, Pita, J, Morales, J, Pecora, D and Wolf, A (2006). Food selection changes under stress. Physiology & Behavior, 87, 789–793.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed