Frayn Mallory, Livshits Simone, Knäuper Bärbel
Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1G1 Canada.
J Eat Disord. 2018 Sep 14;6:23. doi: 10.1186/s40337-018-0210-6. eCollection 2018.
Emotional eating, or overeating in response to negative emotions, is a behavior endorsed by both normal weight and people with overweight/obesity. For some individuals, emotional eating contributes to weight gain and difficulties losing weight. However, there are also many who engage in emotional eating who maintain a normal weight. Little is known about the mechanisms by which these individuals are able to regulate their weight.
The present study seeks to gain insight into the behaviors of individuals of normal weight who engage in emotional eating through a series of one-on-one, 1-h long, qualitative interviews. Interviews were semi-structured and guided by questions pertaining to participants' compensatory behaviors used to regulate weight and concerns regarding their emotional eating. All interviews were transcribed and then objected to a thematic analysis of their content.
The results of this analysis showed that participants endorsed using physical activity, controlling their eating behaviors, and engaging in alternative stress reduction and coping strategies to mitigate the effects of their emotional eating. They reported concern over the effects of emotional eating on their weight, body image, and health and saw this behavior as an unhealthy coping mechanism that was difficult to control.
These results suggest that programs promoting exercise, mindful eating, emotion regulation, and positive body image could have a positive effect on emotional eaters who struggle to maintain a healthy weight.
情绪化进食，即因负面情绪而过度进食，是正常体重人群以及超重/肥胖人群都会出现的一种行为。对一些人来说，情绪化进食会导致体重增加和减肥困难。然而，也有许多进行情绪化进食的人体重保持正常。对于这些人能够调节体重的机制，我们知之甚少。
本研究旨在通过一系列一对一、时长1小时的定性访谈，深入了解进行情绪化进食的正常体重个体的行为。访谈采用半结构化形式，围绕与参与者用于调节体重的补偿行为以及他们对情绪化进食的担忧相关的问题展开。所有访谈均进行了转录，随后对其内容进行了主题分析。
该分析结果表明，参与者认可通过体育活动、控制饮食行为以及采用其他减压和应对策略来减轻情绪化进食的影响。他们表示担心情绪化进食对其体重、身体形象和健康的影响，并将这种行为视为一种难以控制的不健康应对机制。
这些结果表明，推广运动、正念饮食、情绪调节和积极身体形象的项目可能会对难以维持健康体重的情绪化进食者产生积极影响。
