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Negative emotions and emotional eating: the mediating role of experiential avoidance

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Emotional eating is a risk factor for eating pathology across the life- and weight-span. Research demonstrates that negative emotions are a precipitant of emotional eating, particularly among female college students. However, the underlying factors that explain this relationship are unclear. Experiential avoidance, a propensity toward being unwilling to remain in contact with aversive private experiences, may explain the association between negative emotions and emotional eating. The purpose of this study was to examine whether experiential avoidance would mediate the association between negative emotions and emotional eating.

Methods

A sample of 132 women (17.4 % African American, 59.8 % White) completed measures of mood, experiential avoidance and emotional eating. Bias-corrected bootstrapping mediational analyses were conducted.

Results

Experiential avoidance mediated the relationship between negative emotions and emotional eating b = −0.21, 95 % BC CI [−0.43, −0.07]. The indirect effect through experiential avoidance accounted for 9 % of the variance, which represents a medium effect (k 2 = 0.09, 95 % BC CI [0.03, 0.18]).

Conclusions

Results suggest that experiential avoidance is important for understanding the relationship between negative emotions and emotional eating and may inform potential strategies for prevention and treatment.

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Author notes

  1. Rachel Litwin

    Present address: CBT Westport, LLC, 1720 Post Road East, Suite 223, Westport, CT, 06880, USA

  2. Laura Eubanks Gambrel

    Present address: Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling, Appalachian State University, 314B College of Education, Boone, NC, 28608, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, La Salle University, 1900 W. Olney Ave., Philadelphia, PA, 19141-1199, USA

    Rachel Litwin, Edie M. Goldbacher, LeeAnn Cardaciotto & Laura Eubanks Gambrel

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  1. Rachel Litwin
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  2. Edie M. Goldbacher
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  3. LeeAnn Cardaciotto
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  4. Laura Eubanks Gambrel
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Correspondence to Edie M. Goldbacher.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Litwin, R., Goldbacher, E.M., Cardaciotto, L. et al. Negative emotions and emotional eating: the mediating role of experiential avoidance. Eat Weight Disord 22, 97–104 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0301-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0301-9

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