Psychosocial Correlates of Emotional Eating and Their Interrelations: Implications for Obesity Treatment Research and Development.

Abstract

We tested the effects of emotional eating in long-term weight-loss so that both treatment processes and theory could be improved. Women with obesity participated in treatments of either high interpersonal contact and behavioral methods (n = 39) or low interpersonal contact and educational methods (n = 36) through community-based settings. We assessed mood, emotional eating, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and weight. Changes in the psychosocial measures were significantly greater in the high interpersonal contact/behavioral methods group. That group had a mean weight reduction of 6.5% and 6.8% over 6 and 24months, respectively, which was significantly greater than the 2.9% and 1.8% loss in the low interpersonal contact/educational methods group at the same time points. Using aggregate data, change in eating self-regulation significantly mediated the prediction of reduced anxiety- and depression-related emotional eating over 6months by improvements in tension and depression, respectively. The emotional eating reductions were significantly associated with weight loss over both 6 and 24months. Increased physical activity was significantly associated with reduced tension and depression. We also found that the relationship between changes in physical activity and tension was significantly mediated by a change in exercise-related self-efficacy. Increased exercise self-regulation significantly predicted improved eating regulation, with eating-related self-efficacy change being a significant mediator. Our findings suggest an array of psychosocial targets for behavioral weight-management treatments that have large-scale applications.