Body mass index: comparison of emotion regulation and eating behavior

Obesity is a common problem for public health around the world, which are associated with the risk of developing various diseases. In order to improve treatment and appropriate intervention to combat this growing wave of obesity, identify significant factors in susceptibility to overweight and obesity is critical. Thus, the present research investigated the relationship between emotion regulation and eating behavior among women with high and normal body mass index.
The present study was causal-comparative where the population included women referring to hospitals and clinics in districts 1 and 2 in Tehran as well as women with normal weight living in these two districts. Among them, 150 women (75 overweight and 75 normal weights) were selected using convenience sampling. They were asked to complete Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ). The data obtained were analyzed using independent t-test.
The results showed that non–acceptance of emotional responses, difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior, impulse control difficulties, limited access to emotion regulation strategies, and total scores in emotion regulation, as well as emotional eating, and uncontrolled eating in obese individuals were significantly higher than those of normal weight. Conversely cognitive restraints in obese individuals were significantly less than those who had a normal weight.
Difficulty in emotion regulation and eating behavior can play an important role in obesity are requiring more attention.