Emotions, emotion regulation, and eating behavior in women with a healthy weight and women with obesity: A daily life study

Abstract

Obesity is a worldwide public health issue, and it is crucial to identify individual risk factors for excessive food intake, as these may help inform obesity prevention/treatment efforts. One potential reason for which some individuals, but not others, overeat and become obese is food consumption in response to emotions, particularly in the absence of effective emotion regulation (ER) strategies. The current study used Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to assess the effect of emotions and ER on eating in daily life in women with obesity ( n  = 46) and women with a healthy weight ( n  = 54). After completing a baseline questionnaire, participants responded to an EMA survey regarding momentary emotions, ER, and eating behavior five times per day for seven days. Women with obesity used less adaptive ER than women with a healthy weight in daily life. Positive emotions were prospectively associated with more unhealthy food choices in daily life. Negative emotions and ER were not prospectively associated with any eating behavior in daily life. Our findings do not support the notion that improving ER in response to negative emotions could be an effective intervention to reduce food consumption. Yet, in light of our findings regarding positive emotions, future studies could test whether improving ER in response to positive emotions could help individuals manage unhealthy food choices.