Breaking the Link Between Negative Emotion and Unhealthy Eating: the Role of Emotion Regulation

• Published in: Affective science Vol. 4; no. 4; pp. 702 - 710
• Main Authors: Langley, Erika B., O’Leary, Daniel J., Gross, James J., Shiota, Michelle N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.12.2023
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Psychology; Research Article; Eating; Emotion regulation; Stress; Health behavior
• ISSN: 2662-2041; 2662-205X
• DOI: 10.1007/s42761-023-00190-5

Stressful experiences frequently lead to increased consumption of unhealthy foods, high in sugar and fat yet low in nutrients. Can emotion regulation help break this link? In a laboratory experiment ( N  = 200), participants were encouraged to ruminate on a current, distressing personal problem, followed by instruction to use a specific emotion regulation strategy for managing feelings around that problem (challenge appraisal, relaxation/distraction, imagined social support, no-instruction control). Participants then spent 15 min on an anagram task in which 80% of items were unsolvable—a frustrating situation offering a second, implicit opportunity to use the regulation strategy. During the anagram task they had free access to a snack basket containing various options. Analyses revealed significant differences among regulation conditions in consumption of candy versus healthy snack options; challenge appraisal led to the healthiest snack choices, imagined social support to the least healthy snack choices.