Randomized test of a brief psychological intervention to reduce and prevent emotional eating in a community sample

Abstract

Background: Emotional eating is associated with mental health problems and weight gain, but research has focussed on treatment rather than prevention. The present research tests a brief theory-based psychological intervention to reduce and prevent emotional eating in a community sample.

Methods: Two hundred and forty women were randomized to a control condition in which they were asked to identify emotional eating triggers and strategies for change (a 'volitional help sheet') or to an experimental condition in which they were asked explicitly to use the volitional help sheet to link emotional eating triggers with strategies for change and so form implementation intentions.

Results: Results showed that eating in response to boredom was more common than eating in response to anxiety or depression. There was a significant condition × time interaction showing that the formation of implementation intentions resulted in significantly lower levels of emotional eating in response to boredom at follow-up (d = 0.29).

Conclusions: The intervention shows promise in reducing and preventing emotional eating, but further research is required to refine the tool and to examine whether eating in response to anxiety or depression is more common among clinical populations.

Keywords: boredom; brief intervention; emotional eating; implementation intention; volitional help sheet.