The Moderating Effects of Mindfulness on Psychological Distress and Emotional Eating Behaviour

Abstract

Current evidence and theory suggests that emotional eating resulting from attempts to manage psychological distress, such as anxiety, depression, and stress, is considered to be a major contributor to obesity. Mindfulness has been shown to be related to disordered eating behaviours. Employing a non-clinical sample of 42 males and 115 females, the present study investigated the contribution of mindfulness as a potential moderator between psychological distress and engagement in emotional eating, while controlling for the effects of gender and general nutrition knowledge. Consistent with predictions, psychological distress was positively associated with engagement in emotional eating, while mindfulness was found to share an inverse relationship. Moreover, after controlling for gender and general nutrition knowledge, the interaction between psychological distress and mindfulness was found to significantly predict the tendency to engage in emotional eating over and above the individual effects of these variables. The findings from the current study add to the current literature supporting the use of mindfulness-based interventions for treatment of emotional eating practices in individuals experiencing anxiety, stress, and lower levels of depression.

The association between types of eating behaviour and dispositional mindfulness in adults with diabetes. Results from Diabetes MILES. The Netherlands

“…These findings are consistent with previous studies in non-clinical samples (Lattimore et al, 2011;Masuda et al, 2012;Pidgeon et al, 2013). In addition, it was found that dispositional mindfulness was associated with more restrained eating behaviour.…”

“…In addition, heightened awareness of one's internal states, including hunger, satiety and affect, as a result of mindfulness (Baer et al, 2006;Kristeller & Wolever, 2011) should, theoretically, decrease emotional and external eating (Van Strien et al, 1986). Indeed, in student samples, dispositional mindfulness has been associated with greater awareness of healthy dietary habits and less emotional eating (Pidgeon, Lacota, & Champion, 2013); less emotional and uncontrolled eating (Lattimore, Fisher, & Malinowski, 2011); less disordered eating (Masuda, Price, & Latzman, 2012); and fewer bulimic symptoms (Lavender, Jardin, & Anderson, 2009). Recently, also in a sample of bariatric surgery patients, dispositional mindfulness was associated with less emotional and external eating behaviour (Ouwens, Schiffer, Visser, Raeijmaekers, & Nyklíček, 2014).…”

A structured literature review on the role of mindfulness, mindful eating and intuitive eating in changing eating behaviours: effectiveness and associated potential mechanisms

“…Intuitive eating was associated with a lower BMI in four studies (68,70,74,75) . Other observations included a decreased emotional eating with higher levels of mindfulness (76,77,79) and a higher level of everyday mindfulness was related negatively to self-report serve size of energy-dense food (83) . In one of…”

“…Nutrition Research Reviews (68,70,74,75) Mindful eating and decreased BMI 1 Positive (82) Intuitive eating and blood markers of cardiovascular risk 1 Positive (70) Mindfulness and decreased portion size 1 Positive (83) Intuitive eating and observing hunger cues 1 Positive (72) Mindfulness and decreased binge eating 2 Positive (76,80) Mindfulness and decreased emotional eating 3 Positive (76,77,79) Mindfulness and external eating 1 Positive (77) Mindfulness and reduced cravings 1 Positive (78) Mindfulness and restrained eating 1 Positive (75) Intuitive eating and freedom to eat 1 Positive (73) Intuitive eating and interoceptive sensitivity 1 Positive (71) Trait mindfulness and returning baseline brain network post-food cue exposure 1 Positive (78) Mindful eating and mental well-being 1 Positive (81) Intuitive eating and more pleasure associated with food 1 Positive (75) Intuitive eating and increased external and introjection regulation in behaviour questionnaire 1 Positive (69) * Note that effect size is not accounted for in the coding of positive. The code only provides an indicator of direction of results and is not trying to assess overall evidence.…”

“…Eight papers focused on intuitive eating (18,(68)(69)(70)(71)(72)(73)(74)(75) , five papers focused on mindfulness (76)(77)(78)(79)(80) , two papers focused on mindful eating (81,82) and one paper had a combined mindfulness and mindful eating approach (83) .…”