Rumination, mood, and maladaptive eating behaviors in overweight and healthy populations

Abstract

Purpose The literature suggests that rumination (i.e., repetitive thinking about 1 or more negative concerns that is perceived as difficult to control) is linked to impaired emotional regulation and increases negative affect. Not only individuals suffering from overweight or obesity, but also healthy individuals might use emotional eating as a coping strategy to deal with negative affect caused by rumination. The aim of the present study was to determine the link between rumination and maladaptive eating strategies in participants with normal weight and overweight/obesity using trait and ecological momentary measures. Method In Study 1, 88 individuals from overweight/obese (N = 33) and control group (N = 50) filled in a series of questionnaires assessing trait rumination, and eating behaviors. In Study 2 momentary affect, rumination and eating behavior of 26 participants were assessed using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methodology. Results In Study 1, the moderated mediation model revealed that emotional eating mediates the link between rumination and uncontrolled eating or snacking, but only in healthy participants and not in the participants with overweight. The results of Study 2 suggest that when both momentary rumination and sad mood are entered into the model predicting momentary daily emotional eating, only rumination remains a significant predictor of emotional eating. This relationship is not modified by the fact that the participants are from healthy controls or the overweight/obese group. Discussion Study 1 provided evidence on the differential role of emotional eating in participants with normal weight and with overweight. Study 2 provided initial insights into the role of momentary mood and momentary repetitive thinking in the use of emotional eating in participants' everyday lives. The differences in group effect in trait and EMA measures indicated also the importance of considering the consciousness of using rumination and emotional eating, while studying those processes in individuals with overweight. Level of evidence Level III, case-control analytic study.

Food-related behaviours among individuals with overweight/obesity and normal body weight

“…This type of data is burdened with the problem of self-presentation of the respondents and lack of possibility of objective verification. Finally, although snacking (based on a single item) has been shown to be predictive of related behaviours in our previous research [ 71 ] it should be emphasized that in the present study we used the subscale that have not been validated in Polish population.…”

Affect Dysregulation in Context: Implications and Future Directions of Experience Sampling Research on Affect Regulation Models of Loss of Control Eating

“…These studies all showed greater NA at the time of perceived binge eating (40,41) or emotional eating (42).…”

“…Three EMA studies used designs that made it difficult to disambiguate whether NA was an antecedent or consequence of LOC (e.g., designs that asked about affect and LOC concurrently). These studies all showed greater NA at the time of perceived binge eating ( 40 , 41 ) or emotional eating ( 42 ).…”

Evaluating the role of negative affect and negative interpretation biases in emotional eating behavior

“…Further, in community‐based samples, between‐day analyzes revealed that greater negative affect is associated with increased emotional eating (Haedt‐Matt et al, 2014; Klump, Keel, Burt, et al, 2013; Klump, Keel, Racine, et al, 2013). However, not all EMA studies have consistently supported a link between fluctuations in negative affect and emotional eating (Boh et al, 2016; Kornacka et al, 2021). For example, Kornacka et al (2021) found that state negative affect (operationalized by self‐report ratings of current emotional state on six‐point scales ranging from content to discontent and well to unwell) was less predictive of daily emotional eating than rumination.…”