Between- and within-person effects of stress on emotional eating in women: a longitudinal study over 49 days

Abstract

Background Stress is associated with binge eating and emotional eating (EE) cross-sectionally. However, few studies have examined stress longitudinally, limiting understanding of how within-person fluctuations in stress influence EE over time and whether stress is a risk factor or consequence of EE. Additionally, little is known regarding how the biological stress response relates to EE. Methods We used an intensive, longitudinal design to examine between-person and within-person effects of major life stress, daily stress, and cortisol on EE in a population-based sample of women (N = 477; ages 15–30; M = 21.8; s.d. = 3.0) from the Michigan State University Twin Registry. Participants reported past year major life stress, then provided daily ratings of EE and stress for 49 consecutive days. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) was collected as a longitudinal biological stress measure. Results Women reported greater EE when they experienced greater mean stress across days (between-person effects) or greater stress relative to their own average on a given day (within-person effects). Daily stress was more strongly associated with EE than major life stress. However, the impact of daily stress on EE was amplified in women with greater past year major life stress. Finally, participants with lower HCC had increased EE. Conclusions Findings confirm longitudinal associations between stress and EE in women, and highlight the importance of within-person shifts in stress in EE risk. Results also highlight HCC as a novel biological stress measure that is significantly associated with EE and may overcome limitations of prior physiological stress response indicators.

A cotwin control study of associations between financial hardship and binge eating phenotypes during COVID‐19

“…Financial hardship is typically accompanied by considerable psychological stress (Frankham et al, 2020), which is a substantial risk factor for BE (e.g., Fowler et al, 2022;Smith et al, 2021). Interestingly, we found that a measure of general COVID-19 related distress (i.e., "What level of stress and/or distress did you feel TODAY in relation to COVID-19?")…”

“…Several potential mechanisms could underlie an association between financial hardship and BE phenotypes during COVID‐19. Financial hardship is typically accompanied by considerable psychological stress (Frankham et al, 2020 ), which is a substantial risk factor for BE (e.g., Fowler et al, 2022 ; Smith et al, 2021 ). Interestingly, we found that a measure of general COVID‐19 related distress (i.e., “What level of stress and/or distress did you feel TODAY in relation to COVID‐19?”) was not significantly correlated with financial hardship in our study ( r = .02, p = .810), indicating the need for measures that tap psychological stress related to financial concerns in particular.…”

Momentary stress‐induced food craving: An ecological momentary assessment study comparing perceived interpersonal and non‐interpersonal stressors

“…This association is only marginally translated to the between-person level; people who tend to experience stressors more often over the study period, or to report more unpleasant levels, had slightly higher levels of food cravings, but this became non-significant after accounting for age, BMI and gender in sensitivity checks. It could be that the experience of a stressor triggers an immediate increase in distress and consequently an immediate willingness to eat in order to diminish such distress (Fowler et al, 2022;Klatzkin et al, 2022), and so the cravings are quickly resolved. Further research could explore whether negative emotions mediate the within-person relationship between a stressor experience and food craving.…”

“…During stressful experiences or periods, people might have difficulties distinguishing between hunger and distress resulting in overeating (Bruch, 1961;Kaplan & Kaplan, 1957), and may want to eat as a way to escape or avoid distress (Heatherton & Baumeister, 1991), or to seek emotional relief (Fowler et al, 2022;Klatzkin et al, 2022). Additionally, not all events will result in a similar stressful response and health impact (Cohen et al, 2016).…”

The different areas of chronic stress and food addiction: Results from the LIFE‐Adult‐Study

“…That is, core symptoms refer to the increased amount of food intake and the fact that the consumption continues in spite of knowledge of adverse consequences. Both symptoms can be found in individuals that exhibit binge and emotional eating behaviours, both of which showed clear associations with stress (Fowler et al., 2022; Rosenbaum & White, 2015; van Strien, 2018). Furthermore, studies suggested that mindfulness‐based interventions can reduce both forms of disordered eating (Katterman et al., 2014).…”