Predictors of Emotional Eating During Adolescents' Transition to College: Does Body Mass Index Moderate the Association Between Stress and Emotional Eating?

Objective: This study sought to (1) examine perceived stress and resources to cope with stress as predictors of emotional eating during the transition to college and (2) determine whether body mass index (BMI) moderated the emotional eating-stress relationship. Participants: Participants were 97 col...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of American college health 2015-04, Vol.63 (3), p.163-170
Main Authors: Wilson, Shana M., Darling, Katherine E., Fahrenkamp, Amy J., D'Auria, Alexandra L., Sato, Amy F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescents
Adult
At Risk Students
Body Composition
Body Height
Body Mass Index
body mass index (BMI)
Body Weight
College Freshmen
College students
Coping
Eating disorders
Eating Habits
Emotional disorders
emotional eating
Emotional Response
Emotions
Feeding Behavior - psychology
Female
Health behavior
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Questionnaires
Regression (Statistics)
resources to cope
Scientific Concepts
Stress
Stress Management
Stress Variables
Stress, Psychological - complications
Stress, Psychological - etiology
Student Adjustment
Students - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States (Midwest)
Universities
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective: This study sought to (1) examine perceived stress and resources to cope with stress as predictors of emotional eating during the transition to college and (2) determine whether body mass index (BMI) moderated the emotional eating-stress relationship. Participants: Participants were 97 college freshmen (73% female; BMI: M = 25.3 kg/m 2 , SD = 5.7 kg/m 2 ). Research was conducted in September 2012. Methods: Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale, Emotional Eating Scale, and Eating and Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress Questionnaire during the first month of college. Height and weight were measured objectively. Results: BMI moderated the relationship between perceived stress and emotional eating. Higher stress predicted greater emotional eating for the lower BMI groups, but not the highest group. Greater resources to cope with stress predicted lower emotional eating. Conclusions: Greater perceived stress and poorer resources to cope with stress may contribute to emotional eating during the transition to college. The relationship between perceived stress and emotional eating may vary by BMI.
ISSN:0744-8481
1940-3208
DOI:10.1080/07448481.2014.1003374