Effects of negative mood induction and impulsivity on self-perceived emotional eating

• Published in: The International journal of eating disorders 2004-12, Vol.36 (4), p.461-469
• Main Authors: Bekker, M.H.J, Meerendonk, C. van de, Mollerus, J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Affect; Affectivity. Emotion; anxiety; Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; body image; college students; depression; Diet; Eating behavior disorders; Eating disorders; eating habits; emotional barriers; emotional eating; Emotions; failure; Feeding and Eating Disorders - etiology; Feeding and Eating Disorders - psychology; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Female; frustration; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Impulsive Behavior - psychology; impulsivity; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; mood; negative affect; perfectionism; Personality. Affectivity; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Self Concept; Self image; self-efficacy; self-perceptions; Students
• ISSN: 0276-3478; 1098-108X
• DOI: 10.1002/eat.20041

Objective The current study investigates the influence of negative mood induction and impulsivity on self‐perceptions with respect to emotional eating. Negative affect as well as high impulsivity was expected to increase levels of self‐perceived emotional eating. Method College students who were high versus low in impulsivity were assigned randomly to either a negative (failure on a quiz) or a neutral mood induction. Their levels of self‐perceived emotional eating were measured after and before mood induction. Results Negative affect appeared to enhance the level of self‐perceived emotional eating significantly (p < .01). There was no statistically significant effect of impulsivity. The interaction effect of affect and impulsivity approached significance (p = .08), indicating that highly impulsive subjects compared with subjects low in impulsivity were more strongly influenced by negative affect in self‐perceived emotional eating. Discussion Negative affect substantially influences self‐perceptions in terms of emotional eating, which is relevant for both prevention and treatment. © 2004 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 36: 461–469, 2004.