Eating Behaviours in Relation to Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the abnormal eating attitudes in judoists and the possible relationships between eating attitudes, emotional intelligence, and body dissatisfaction. A total of 20 national judoists and 25 control participants were enrolled in the study. Subjects completed the following questionnaires: The Eating Attitudes Test, The Body Image Assessment Scale-Body Dimensions and the Bar-On Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. 30 % of the athletes (n=6) and 20% of the controls (n=5) presented disordered eating attitudes although these subjects were of normal weight. They also presented body dissatisfaction and had lower levels of emotional intelligence in comparison to the groups without disordered eating attitudes, particularly in factors such as intrapersonal (p<0.01), adaptability (p<0.05), stress tolerance (p<0.04) and general mood (p<0.04). The athletes reported using different weight loss methods such as self-induced vomiting (20%), fasting (40%), diuretics (15%), and laxatives (50%). Among disordered eating attitude groups (Controls+Judoists), Global EAT-26 was negatively correlated with stress tolerance (p<0.04: r=-0.64), emotional self-awareness (p<0.05: r=-0.70), general mood (p<0.01: r=-0.74), and positively correlated with body dissatisfaction (p<0.01: r=0.79). Results highlight the role of emotion in disordered eating attitudes, which is an important finding in terms of the prevention and management of disordered eating.