Negative affect-induced food intake in non-dieting women is reward driven and associated with restrained–disinhibited eating subtype

In humans the presence of negative affect is thought to promote food intake, although widespread variability surrounds this issue. Susceptibility to negative affect-induced eating may depend on trait eating behaviours, notably ‘emotional eating’, ‘restrained eating’ and ‘disinhibited eating’, but the evidence is not consistent. In the present study, 30 non-obese, non-dieting women were given access to palatable food while in a state of negative or neutral affect, induced by a validated autobiographical recall technique. As predicted, food intake was higher in the presence of negative affect; however, this effect was moderated by the pattern of eating behaviour traits and enhanced wanting for the test food. Specifically, high restraint and high disinhibition in combination with higher scores on emotional eating and food wanting was able to predict negative-affect intake (adjusted R2 = .61), suggesting that individuals who are both restrained and vulnerable to disinhibited eating are particularly susceptible to negative-affect food intake via stimulation of food wanting. Identification of traits that predispose individuals to overconsume and a more detailed understanding of the specific behaviours driving such overconsumption may help to optimise strategies to prevent weight gain.

Research highlights
► Elevated food intake during negative affect is driven by hedonic wanting for food.
► Negative affect intake is moderated by high levels of restraint and disinhibition.
► HRHD eating subtype is more susceptible to overconsumption.