Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97334, Waco, TX, 76798, USA.
Eat Weight Disord. 2021 Oct;26(7):2281-2286. doi: 10.1007/s40519-020-01078-0. Epub 2021 Jan 2.
Metacognition refers to how people think about their own thoughts. Existing studies have found that compared to healthy controls, individuals with eating disorders manifest elevated levels of dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs. No studies to date have investigated what role metacognitive beliefs play in the manifestation of emotional eating, a well-known risk factor for the development of eating disorders. The purpose of the current study was to assess the associations between metacognitive beliefs and emotional eating in a community sample of adolescents.
Participants were 135 middle school students (Mean age = 13.62 years; SD = 0.57) who completed the Emotional Eating Scale Adapted for Children and Adolescents-Short-Form, Metacognition Questionnaire for Children, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children, and a demographic questionnaire.
Participants classified as high emotional eaters reported statistically significant higher negative metacognitive beliefs (Mean = 15.56; SD = 4.22) compared to participants classified as low emotional eaters (Mean = 12.85; SD = 4.31; p ≤ 0.001; t = - 3.69). There was a significant positive association between emotional eating and negative metacognitive beliefs in the hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis (standardized beta coefficient = 0.25; p < 0.05) after controlling for socio-demographic variables and negative affect.
The current findings provide preliminary evidence that negative metacognitive beliefs may play a role in the manifestation of emotional eating in adolescents. Future prospective studies are needed to elucidate the temporal associations between emotional eating and negative metacognitive beliefs in this population.
Level III, case-control analytic study.
元认知是指人们对自己思维的思考。现有研究发现，与健康对照组相比，饮食障碍患者表现出更高水平的功能失调的元认知信念。迄今为止，尚无研究探讨元认知信念在情绪性进食中的作用，情绪性进食是饮食障碍发展的一个众所周知的风险因素。本研究的目的是评估元认知信念与青少年群体中情绪性进食之间的关系。
参与者为 135 名中学生（平均年龄为 13.62 岁，标准差为 0.57 岁），他们完成了儿童青少年情绪性进食量表改编版、儿童元认知问卷、儿童正性和负性情绪量表以及人口统计学问卷。
被归类为高情绪进食者的参与者报告的负性元认知信念显著高于被归类为低情绪进食者（分别为 15.56，标准差为 4.22；12.85，标准差为 4.31；p≤0.001；t=-3.69）。在控制社会人口统计学变量和负性情绪后，分层多元线性回归分析显示，情绪性进食与负性元认知信念之间存在显著正相关（标准化β系数=0.25，p<0.05）。
目前的研究结果初步表明，负性元认知信念可能在青少年情绪性进食的表现中发挥作用。未来需要前瞻性研究来阐明该人群中情绪性进食和负性元认知信念之间的时间关联。
三级，病例对照分析研究。
