Examining Self- and Mindfulness-Related Mechanisms Underlying the Reduction of Emotional Eating
Syeda Shireen
eScholarship@McGill 2023 DOI: 10.82308/40478 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Emotional eaters |
| Intervention | Body scan meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Emotional eaters who practiced body scan meditation reported significantly greater post-intervention decreases in negative affect and food cravings than those in a control condition. No mediation by rumination, perceived body boundaries, or spatial frames of reference, and no moderation by trait mindfulness, equanimity, interoceptive awareness, or cognitive defusion, was found. The authors argue this supports the efficacy of mindfulness-based practices for reducing emotional eating. |
Abstract
Emotional eating, or overeating in response to negative emotions, is problematic because of its association with an increased risk for overweight and obesity, difficulties losing weight, diabetes, and heart disease. As such, several studies have focused on understanding the mechanisms that underlie this behavior and ways of reducing it. This dissertation consists of three studies that investigate how mindfulness influences the self in reducing emotional eating. The first study systematically reviews the study of the self within the mindfulness literature and sets the stage for the investigation of the self and mindfulness in emotional eating. The results of this review called for a greater focus on the study of aspects of the self that are relational (occur between individuals or in interaction with environment) and transcendental (go beyond ordinary inter- and intra-personal experiences and are marked by decreased self-salience) in addition to the high focus on the study of intrapersonal aspects of the self that was seen in the current literature. As such, the remainder of the dissertation investigated two transcendental self-variables, namely perceived body boundaries and spatial frames of reference, in the mechanism of action of a mindfulness meditation in reducing emotional eating. Specifically, the second study first explored the phenomenology of emotional eating to explicate the mechanisms underlying emotional eating where transcendental aspects of the self may be relevant targets in reducing this behavior. The core findings provided phenomenological support for the escape theory of emotional eating, namely that individuals use food for emotion regulation by disengaging from higher-level cognition or ruminative narrative self-focus and instead focusing on lower-level cognition or an embodied self-focus in the present moment. The third study then investigated whether a mindfulness practice, the body scan meditation, could enable such a shift from narrative to embodied self-processing allowing individuals to regulate their emotions without the use of food and if changes in transcendental self-variables of perceived body boundaries and spatial frames of reference mediated this effect, as seen in previous studies of the effects of mindfulness practices on emotion-related outcomes. Specifically, the primary objective of this randomized-controlled study was to investigate whether the body scan meditation reduces negative affect and food cravings in emotional eaters. The secondary objective was to investigate whether rumination, perceived body boundaries, and spatial frames of reference mediated the effect of the body scan meditation in reducing negative affect. Finally, to understand for whom the body scan meditation would be most useful, the third study also investigated whether trait measures of mindfulness, equanimity, interoceptive awareness, and cognitive defusion act as moderators of the effect of the body scan meditation in reducing negative affect and food cravings. The results showed that emotional eaters in the body scan meditation condition reported a significantly greater post-intervention decrease in negative affect and food cravings than emotional eaters in the control condition. No mediation or moderation effects were found. This study adds to the literature supporting the efficacy of mindfulness-based practices in reducing emotional eating. Future research is encouraged to further investigate the mechanisms and moderators of this effect
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Healthy employees in a work environment | 2003 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2000 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 145 |
| Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Working adults | 2008 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 139 |
| Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Undergraduate Chinese students | 2007 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 40 |
| Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2004 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 73 |