Abstract
Rumination and worry, collectively referred to as perseverative cognition, have been implicated in the increased engagement of several health risk behaviours. The current study aimed to investigate the potential influencing role of these repetitive negative thought cognitions in an online snack paradigm. Participants were randomly assigned to either an even condition (a 3:3 ratio of ≤101 kcal and >201 kcal snacks) or an uneven condition (a 4:2 ratio in favour of ≤101 kcal snacks). Upon the presentation of six images of sweet treats, participants were asked to choose the snack they most wanted to consume “right now”, before completing the Ultra-Brief Penn State Worry Questionnaire (UB-PSWQ) and the brief (5-item) Ruminative Response Scale (RRS). The results showed that the reduced availability of higher calorie snacks significantly improved both snack choice and total calorie consumption. However, despite rumination and worry having no influence on the snack type chosen, higher levels of rumination still led to significantly higher overall calorie consumption. Although, contrary to predictions, higher levels of worry conversely led to significantly lower overall calorie consumption. This study adds to the growing work in the role of perseverative cognition and food consumption, which may aid in informing public health strategies. Further exploration is needed to assess whether rumination directly induces unhealthy eating behaviours or simply exacerbates them.
Highlights
Received: 19 January 2022The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that at least 2.8 million deaths globally are a result of being overweight and obese [1], while the UK government estimates that being overweight and obese-related ill health costs the national health service ~£6.1 billion annually [2]
Three further data sets were moved due to incorrect engagement with the survey and duplications, the final samremoved due to incorrect engagement with the survey and duplications, the final ple for analysis was 298 participants
The current study aimed to build upon a previous pilot investigation [30] in which we aimed to test whether the two facets of perseverative cognition, worry and rumination, would lead to poorer food choice as well as increased calorie consumption; within two conditions that varied in availability of higher calorie snacks
Summary
Received: 19 January 2022The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that at least 2.8 million deaths globally are a result of being overweight and obese [1], while the UK government estimates that being overweight and obese-related ill health costs the national health service ~£6.1 billion annually [2]. Excess calorie consumption is the primary contributor to obesity and its comorbidities [3,4], and interventions employed by the UK government, and associated shareholders, have been targeted towards calorie reduction [2]. One of the more expeditious environmental interventions aimed at reducing calorie consumption and improving food selection is that of choice architecture. Varying the availability of unhealthy food choices in particular has shown effective in significantly improving food choice in a series of online, laboratory and field-based investigations [5–10]. There are a range of individual differences (e.g., demographic, trait and affective factors) that have been shown to influence food choice, both within and independently of these behavioural paradigms [9–13]. Among the multifaceted causes of surplus calorie consumption, emotional eating ( in response to negative emotions and stress) has been shown to be a principal catalyst [14,15]
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