Abstract
Emotional eating occurs frequently in individuals with eating disorders and is an overlooked factor within addictions research. The present study identified the relationship between emotional eating, substance use, and eating disorders, and assessed the usefulness of the Emotional Eating Scale (EES) for individuals with concurrent eating disorders (ED) and substance use disorders (SUD). One hundred and ninety three individuals seeking specialized substance use and eating disorder treatment were administered substance use, mental health, and eating disorders measures. Results suggested that emotional eating predicted the ability to resist using drugs in high risk situations and the tendency to be over-absorbed in face of stressful situations. The EES is useful for assessing emotional eating among individuals with concurrent ED and SUD, although it would be improved by the inclusion of more items of positive affect. Emotional eating within populations with concurrent ED and SUD is worthy of further investigation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arnow, B., Kenardy, J., & Agras, W. S. (1992). Binge eating among the obese: A descriptive study. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15, 155–170.
Arnow, B., Kenardy, J., & Agras, W. S. (1995). The emotional eating scale: The development of a measure to assess coping with negative affect by eating. The International Journal of Eating Disorders, 18, 79–90.
Bruch, H. (1973). Psychiatric aspects of obesity. Psychiatric Annals, 3, 6–10.
Carlson, A. J. (1916). The control of hunger in health and disease. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Chaney, E. F., Roszell, D. K., & Cummings, C. (1982). Relapse in opiate addicts: A behavioral analysis. Addictive Behaviors, 7, 291–297.
Coniglio, C. (1990). Making connections: Eating disorders and addictions. Toronto, ON: Second Story Press.
Courbasson, C. M. A. (2006). Reflective activity and its measurement. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 4(2), 133–149.
Dubé, L., LeBel, J. L., & Lu, J. (2005). Affect asymmetry and comfort food consumption. Physiology and Behavior, 86, 559–567.
Espelage, L. D., Mazzeo, E. S., Aggen, H. S., Quittner, L. A., Sherman, R., et al. (2003). Examining the construct validity of the eating disorder inventory. Psychological Assessment, 15, 71–81.
First, M. B., Spitzer, R. L., Gibbon, M., & Williams, J. B. W. (1995). Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-IP). Washington, DC: American Psychiatry Press.
Ganley, R. M. (1988). Emotional eating and how it relates to dietary restraint, disinhibition, and perceived hunger. The International Journal of Eating Disorders, 7, 635–647.
Garner, D. M., & Gerborg, A. (2004). Understanding and diagnosing eating disorders. In R. H. Coombs (Ed.) Handbook of addictive disorders: A practical guide to diagnosis and treatment. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Garner, D. M., Olmsted, M. P., & Polivy, J. (1983). Development and validation of a multidimensional eating disorders inventory for anorexia nervosa and bulimia. The International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2, 15–34.
Garvey, A. J., Heinold, J. W., & Rosner, B. (1989). Self-help approaches to smoking cessation: A report from the normative aging study. Addictive Behaviors, 14, 23–33.
Geliebter, A., & Aversa, A. (2003). Emotional eating in overweight, normal weight, and underweight individuals. Eating Behaviors, 3, 341–347.
Granner, M., Black, D. & Abood, D. A. (2002). Levels of cigarette and alcohol use related to eating disorder attitudes. American Journal of Health Behaviors, 26, 43–55.
Hodgkins, C. C., Jacobs, W. S., & Gold, M. S. (2003). Weight gain after adolescent drug addiction treatment and supervised abstinence. Psychiatric Annals, 33, 112–116.
Jasper, K. (1989). Are eating disorders addictions? The National Eating Disorders Information Center Bulletin, 4.
Kristeller, J. L., & Hallett, C. B. (1999). An exploratory study of a meditation-based intervention for binge eating disorder. Journal of Health Psychology, 4, 357–363.
Lindeman, M., & Stark, K. (2001). Emotional eating and eating disorder psychopathology. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 9, 251–259.
Macht, M. (2005). Emotion-induced changes of eating: The role of emotions. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 21, 9–22.
Marlatt, G. A., & Gordon, J. R. (1980). Determinants of relapse: Implications for the maintenance of behavior change. In P. Davidson & S. Davidson (Eds.), Behavioral medicine: Changing health lifestyles (pp. 410–452). New York: Brunner.
Marlatt, G. A., Witkiewitz, K., Dillworth, T., Bowen, S. W., Parks, G., Macpherson, L. M., et al. (2004). Vipassana meditation as a treatment for alcohol and drug use disorders. In S. C. Hayes, V. M. Follette, & M. M. Linehan (Eds.) Mindfulness and acceptance: Expanding the cognitive–behavioral tradition (pp. 261–287). New York: Guilford.
McLellan, A. T., Kushner, H., Metzger, D., Peters, R., Smith, I., et al. (1992). The fifth edition of the addiction severity index. The Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 9, 199–213.
McLellan, A. T., Luborsky, L., O’Brien, C. P., & Woody, G. E. (1980). An improved diagnostic instrument for substance abuse clients: The addiction severity index. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 168, 26–33.
McMain, S., Korman, L., Courbasson, C. M. A., & Smith, P. D. (2001). Traitements spécialisés des personnes ayant des problèmes concomitants de santé mentale ET toxicomanie: UN modèle intégrant la thérapie dialectique comportementale. Santé Mentale au Québec, 26(2), 132–156.
Mehrabian, A. (1980). Basic dimensions for a general psychological theory. Cambridge, UK: Oel-schlager, Gunn & Hain.
Pinaquy, S., Chabrol, H., Simon, C., Louvet, J.-P., & Barbe, P. (2003). Emotional eating, alexithymia and binge eating disorder in obese women. Obesity Research, 11(2), 195–201.
Pitts, C., & Waller, G. (1993). Self-denigratory beliefs following sexual abuse: Association with the symptomatology of bulimic disorder. The International Journal of Eating Disorders, 13, 407–410.
Polivy, J., Herman, P. C., & McFarlane, T. (1994). Effects of anxiety on eating: Does palatability moderate stress-induced overeating in dieters? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 10, 505–510.
Popkess-Vawter, S., Wendel, S., Schmoll, S., & O’Connell, K. (1998). Overeating, reversal theory, and weight cycling. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 20, 67–83.
Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., & Teasdale, J. D. (2002). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression. New York: Guilford.
Shipman, K., Schneider, R., & Brown, A. (2004). Emotion dysregulation and psychopathology. In M. Beauregard (Ed.) Consciousness, emotional self-regulation and the brain. Advances in consciousness research (pp. 61–85). Netherlands, Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Sklar, S. M., Annis, H. M., & Turner, N. E. (1997). Development and validation of the Drug-Taking Confidence Questionnaire: A measure of coping self-efficacy. Addictive Behaviors, 22, 655–670.
Stock, S. L., Goldberg, E., Corbett, S., & Katzman, D. K. (2002). Substance abuse in female adolescents with eating disorders. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 31, 176–182.
Taylor, G. J., Parker, J. D. A., Bagby, M. R., & Bourke, M. P. (1996). The relationship between alexithymia and psychological characteristics associated with eating disorders. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 41, 561–568.
Tingzhong, Y., & Dingwan, C. (2004). Study on situation leading to smoking and quitting relapse. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 18, 188–195.
Van Strien, T. (2000). Ice-cream consumption, tendency toward overeating, and personality. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 28, 460–464.
Van Strien, T., & Ouwens, M. A. (2003). Counterregulation in female obese emotional eaters: Schacter, Goldman, and Gordon’s (1968) test of psychosomatic theory revisited. Eating Behaviors, 3, 329–340.
Vervaet, M., Audenaert, K., & Van Heeringen, C. (2003). Cognitive and behavioural characteristics are associated with personality dimensions in clients with eating disorders. European Eating Disorder Review, 11, 363–378.
Waller, G., & Matoba, M. (1999). Emotional eating and eating psychopathology in nonclinical groups: A cross-cultural comparison of women in Japan and the United Kingdom. The International Journal of Eating Disorders, 26, 333–340.
Waller, G., & Osman, S. (1998). Emotional eating and eating psychopathology among non-eating-disordered women. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 23, 419–424.
Zywiak, W., Connors, G. J., Maisto, S., & Westerberg, V. S. (1996). Section IIA. Replication and extension of Marlatt’s taxonomy: Relapse research and the reasons for drinking questionnaire: A factor analysis of Marlatt’s relapse taxonomy. Addiction, 91, S121–S130.
Acknowledgements
The authors fully acknowledge and thank the contribution of Tony Toneatto for his invaluable suggestions and directions that enhanced significantly this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Courbasson, C.M., Rizea, C. & Weiskopf, N. Emotional Eating among Individuals with Concurrent Eating and Substance Use Disorders. Int J Ment Health Addiction 6, 378–388 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-007-9135-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-007-9135-z