The association between distress tolerance and eating expectancies among trauma-exposed college students with obesity

Abstract

Objective Obesity is a significant health concern among college populations, and trauma-exposed students are particularly at risk for behaviors associated with weight gain. There is need for further understanding of factors that may contribute to increased obesity among this population. Participants: Participants included 139 trauma-exposed college students with obesity (76.3% females; M_age = 25.4 years, SD = 8.07). Method: The current cross-sectional study examined distress tolerance in terms of expectancies of eating to help manage negative affect and to lead to feeling out of control among trauma-exposed college students with obesity. Results: Results indicated that lower perceived distress tolerance was associated with greater expectancies of eating to help manage negative affect and to lead to feeling out of control. Conclusions: These findings suggest that distress tolerance may be a clinically significant target for treatment in order to better understand and treat expectancies of eating among trauma-exposed college students with obesity.

Keywords:

• College
• distress
• eating
• obesity
• trauma

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, MJZ, upon reasonable request.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of The United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Houston.

Additional information

Funding

Thi

s work was funded by a pre-doctoral National Research Service Award awarded to Ms. Brooke Kauffman (F31-DA046127).