The nuances of emotion regulation difficulties and mindfulness in food addiction

Abstract

With increasing rates of obesity, preventing and treating problematic eating behavior is critical. Food addiction (FA) is one variable associated with the development and maintenance of obesity. FA is theorized to have similarities with substance use disorders (SUD). For example, emotion dysregulation is prevalent in both types of pathology. The purpose of this study was twofold; explore the conceptual links between FA and SUDS with respect to emotion regulation and identify possible differences in the contributions of mindful awareness and acceptance to FA symptoms in the presence of negative affect, as potential points of intervention in FA. Data were collected online from 769 undergraduate college students and community members. Participants completed measures of mindfulness, eating behaviors, and emotion regulation. Independent samples t-tests demonstrated that participants meeting criteria for FA endorsed higher levels of difficulty with emotional acceptance, goal directed behavior, impulse control in response to negative affect, emotion regulation strategies, and emotional clarity compared to those without FA (all p <.001); however, no significant differences were found for emotional awareness. Additionally, FA participants endorsed greater negative affect compared to non-FA participants (p <.001). Results demonstrated impulsivity, specifically in response to negative affect, mediated the relationship between mindful acceptance and FA symptoms; however, impulsivity did not mediate the relationship for mindful awareness and FA symptoms. Findings suggest that individuals with FA may be highly aware of emotions, but lack skills needed to cope with negative affect. Therefore, emotion dysregulation and mindful acceptance may be appropriate treatment targets for individuals who endorse FA symptomatology.

Highlights

• Those with food addiction display emotional awareness.

• Mindful acceptance and food addiction is mediated by impulsivity to negative affect.

• This mediation was not found with mindful awareness.

• Individuals with food addiction may lack skills needed to manage negative affect.

• Emotion regulation has a similar function in food addiction as in substance use disorders.

Keywords:

• Food addiction
• substance use disorder
• emotion regulation
• mindfulness

Disclosure statement

The protocol for this study was approved by the institutional review board and was conducted in accordance with the ethics of the profession. Informed consent was provided by all participants. The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to declare.