The role of stress in the association among food insecurity, eating disorder pathology, and binge eating-related appetitive traits

Kosmas, Jacqueline A; Wildes, Jennifer E.; Graham, Andrea K.; O'Connor, Shannon M.

doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2023.101709

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…While stress is known to be associated with food insecurity [ 5 , 23 , 28 ], stress was not shown to be indirectly associated with the relation between food insecurity and BMI. This may be due to several reasons.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Delay Discounting and the Income-Food Insecurity-Obesity Paradox in Mothers

Epstein,

Rizwan,

Paluch

et al. 2023

Journal of Obesity

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Food insecurity, defined as unpredictable access to food that may not meet a person’s nutritional needs, is paradoxically associated with higher BMI (kg/m2) and obesity. Research has shown delay discounting, a behavioral economic measure of the preference for immediate rather than delayed rewards, is related to higher BMI, and moderates the relationship between income and food insecurity. Based on this research, we used regression models to test whether delay discounting, consideration of future consequences, and perceived stress were atemporal mediators of the food insecurity-BMI relation in 313 mothers, controlling for demographic variables. A secondary aim was to replicate the finding that delay discounting moderates the relationship between low income and high food insecurity. Results showed that low income was associated with higher food insecurity, and higher food insecurity was associated with higher BMI. Delay discounting was the only variable that was indirectly related to both paths of the food-insecurity-BMI relation. Delay discounting accounted for 22.2% of the variance in the low-income-food insecurity-obesity relation, and the total model accounted for 38.0% of the variance. The relation between low income and food insecurity was moderated by delay discounting. These data suggest that delay discounting is a potential mediator of the relationship between food insecurity and high BMI, which suggests reducing discounting in the future could be a novel target to reduce food insecurity and help people with food insecurity to reduce their excess body weight. Trial Registration. This trial is registered with NCT02873715.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…People with low income and food insecurity often experience stress [ 5 , 23 , 28 ]. Stress is associated with obesity [ 23 , 29 ], and it can increase food reward [ 30 ] and can lead to emotional eating to regulate negative affect [ 31 ], both of which can lead to positive energy balance, weight gain, and obesity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delay Discounting and the Income-Food Insecurity-Obesity Paradox in Mothers

Epstein,

Rizwan,

Paluch

et al. 2023

Journal of Obesity

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“…There is consistent evidence that higher psychological stress is associated with unhealthy eating habits among young adults (Coakley et al, 2021;Finch & Tomiyama, 2015). For instance, one study found that higher perceived stress was associated with higher scores on emotional overeating and food responsiveness (Kosmas et al, 2023).…”

Section: Stress and Eating Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 98%

Executive function, perceived stress and eating behaviours among Chinese young adults

Chen,

Lam,

Yuan

et al. 2024

Stress and Health

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Young adults in a transitional period may experience more stress and, hence, suffer from an increased risk of unhealthy eating. Executive function (EF) involves not only inhibitory control and mental flexibility (the ‘cool’ facet) to facilitate resistance to immediate temptations, but also affective decision making (the ‘hot’ facet) that helps to regulate emotional eating. The effects of different facets of EF and their interactions with perceived stress on eating behaviours remained underexplored. In this study, 594 young adults in their graduation year of post‐secondary education were included. We used latent profile analysis to identify major patterns of eating behaviours and analysed their associations with perceived stress, and both the ‘cool’ and ‘hot’ facets of EF using multinominal logistic regression models. Latent profile analysis identified three clusters of eating patterns: non‐approaching moderate eaters (N = 312, 52.5%), approaching eaters (N = 229, 38.6%), and approaching‐and‐avoidant eaters (N = 53, 8.9%). Logistic regression models found that the approaching‐and‐avoidant eating pattern was associated with higher perceived stress (OR = 3.16, p value = 0.007) and poorer affective decision‐making (OR = 0.97, p value = 0.006). Stratified analysis further revealed that higher perceived stress was significantly associated with approaching‐and‐avoidant eating only among individuals with poorer affective decision‐making. These findings suggest that individuals with poorer emotional regulation may face greater difficulties in regulating eating behaviours when experiencing higher stress. Interventions for people with a mixed pattern of approaching‐and‐avoidance eating should focus on providing support to regulate emotion‐related eating.

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