Dixit Urvashi, Love Anna A, Henderson Rachel R, Ahlich Erica, He Jinbo, Rigby Andrea, Zickgraf Hana F
University of South Alabama, Department of Psychology, Mobile, AL, 36688, USA.
University at Albany, Department of Psychology, Albany, NY, 12222, USA.
Appetite. 2025 Apr 1;208:107907. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2025.107907. Epub 2025 Feb 12.
The Behavioral Susceptibility Theory posits that food approach/avoidance traits are key genetic contributors to obesity and disordered eating. The genetic tendency to approach/avoid food may manifest with emotional eating (i.e., over or under eating in response to emotional cues). Research indicates that emotional eating (EE) affects long-term success after bariatric surgery, but findings focus mainly on the tendency to overeat in response to negative emotions. The current study examined the role of both emotional over- and under-eating within a pre-bariatric sample, and their association with psychosocial outcomes. Using Latent Class Analysis, responses from 446 participants (74.3% female; 71.5% White, 12.1% African American, 10.3% Hispanic, 4.1% multiracial, 1.1% Other/Unreported; M = 42.38, M = 49.15 kg/m) on the emotional eating subscales of the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire were analyzed to identify EE patterns. Participants also responded to measures of emotional distress, quality of life, and disordered eating (e.g., night eating, binge eating, and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder). A four-class solution emerged: (a) emotional over- and undereating (EOE-EUE; 14.4%), (b) emotional overeating (EOE; 25.3%), (c) emotional undereating (EUE; 26.0%), and (d) non-emotional eating (non-EE; 34.3%). Consistent with previous research, the EOE-EUE class exhibited high levels of psychosocial impairment, and emotional eating classes exhibited higher levels of disordered eating compared to the non-emotional eating class. These findings provide a more nuanced understanding of EE within a pre-bariatric population by identifying patterns of both over- and under-eating within individuals and differentially identifying risk factors associated with such patterns. Limitations include the lack of a non-surgery seeking comparison group, potential for response biases, and the reliance on cross-sectional data.
行为易感性理论认为，对食物的趋近/回避特质是导致肥胖和饮食失调的关键遗传因素。趋近/回避食物的遗传倾向可能表现为情绪化进食（即因情绪线索而过度进食或进食不足）。研究表明，情绪化进食（EE）会影响减肥手术后的长期效果，但研究结果主要集中在因负面情绪而过度进食的倾向。本研究考察了减肥手术前样本中情绪化过度进食和不足进食的作用，以及它们与心理社会结果的关联。通过潜在类别分析，对446名参与者（74.3%为女性；71.5%为白人，12.1%为非裔美国人，10.3%为西班牙裔，4.1%为多种族，1.1%为其他/未报告；平均年龄M = 42.38岁，平均体重指数M = 49.15 kg/m²）在《成人饮食行为问卷》情绪化进食分量表上的回答进行分析，以确定EE模式。参与者还对情绪困扰、生活质量和饮食失调（如夜间进食、暴饮暴食和回避/限制食物摄入障碍）的测量进行了回应。出现了一个四类解决方案：（a）情绪化过度和不足进食（EOE-EUE；14.4%），（b）情绪化过度进食（EOE；25.3%），（c）情绪化不足进食（EUE；26.0%），以及（d）非情绪化进食（non-EE；34.3%）。与先前的研究一致，EOE-EUE类别表现出高水平的心理社会损害，与非情绪化进食类别相比，情绪化进食类别表现出更高水平的饮食失调。这些发现通过识别个体内部的过度和不足进食模式以及差异识别与这些模式相关的风险因素，对减肥手术前人群的EE提供了更细致入微的理解。局限性包括缺乏未寻求手术的对照组、存在回应偏差的可能性以及对横断面数据的依赖。
