Overeating as coping and stressor in overweight control

• Main Author: Solomon, Margot Ruth
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.1992
• Subjects: Behavioral psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Clinical psychology; Nursing; Obesity; Psychotherapy; Stress
• ISBN: 9798208600771

Although the coping function of overeating has been recognized, it has not been studied in the context of a stress and coping perspective. That overeating is a coping response to stress, and also has stressful effects itself, are the central ideas of a coherent set of propositions tested in this study. Two coping repertoires are assumed: one to mediate the stressful effects of negatively appraised life events; and a second, comprised of overweight control strategies, to cope with the stressful effects of overeating. Patterns of typical overeating episodes, and the individual's concerns with respect to them, were also studied. A cross-sectional survey of 79 subjects was conducted. The subjects were primarily Caucasian, young-adult/middle-aged, middle-income women (mean age = 35.24; S.D. = 7.761) employed in clerical, middle management, and nursing capacities. A weight history interview, health diary, and five standardized instruments were vehicles for data collection. Hierarchical analysis demonstrated that 45% of the variance in negative mood states was explained by the study model. Regression analyses indicated that: (1) Stressors influence the worsening of negative mood states; (2) some coping styles are related to negative mood states--at times inversely; and (3) overeating is associated with negative mood states in the context of frequent use of overweight control strategies. Through content analysis of the interview data, preconditions, patterns, functions, consequences, and responses to overeating were identified. ftn$\sp*$This study was supported by a National Research Service Award Number NR05824-04, from the National Center For Nursing Research, United States Public Health Service and by the University of California, San Francisco Graduate Student Research Awards; and by a grant from the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing Century Club.