Impact of emotional awareness and parental bonding on emotional eating in obese women

This study aimed to: (1) determine whether obese women have deficits in emotional awareness and more frequently use emotional eating to regulate their emotions, (2) assess the impact of emotional awareness on the use of emotional eating, and (3) explore the impact of parental bonding on patient level of emotional awareness. A sample of 94 obese women was compared with 56 control participants. All participants answered questionnaires concerning their eating habits (Dutch Emotional Behavior Questionnaire), emotional awareness (Level of Emotional Awareness Scale) and parental bonding (Parental Bonding Inventory). Obese women exhibited deficits in emotional awareness and used emotional eating as an emotion regulation strategy more often than controls. Regression analyses showed that paternal and maternal overprotection negatively influenced obese patients’ levels of emotional awareness and that emotional awareness positively influenced their emotional eating.

► Obese women have a deficit in discriminating emotional states.
► Obese women use more emotional eating as emotion regulation strategy.
► Parental overprotection negatively impacts emotional awareness in obesity.
► Emotional awareness positively impacts emotional eating in obesity.