An An Examination of Eating Habits, Emotional Eating, And Anxiety During The Covid-19 Pandemic
Eating Habits During The Covid-19 Pandemic
Keywords:
Covid 19, quarantine, emotional eating, anxietyAbstract
With the interruption of daily life routines during the Covid-19 quarantine period, individuals' social, psychological, and eating behaviors have been affected both in Turkey and worldwide. In this sense, the current study aimed to examine the mediator role of anxiety in the relationship between changes in eating habits and emotional eating during the Covid-19 pandemic. The data were collected with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Emotional Appetite Inventory (EMAQ). Selected through the snowball sampling method, 2276 individuals from Turkey aged 18-65 participated in the study. We analyzed the data with stepwise multiple regression analysis. We also used structural equation modeling to examine mediating effects of state anxiety in the prediction of EMAQ scores by the total number of meals. The study revealed that the variables that significantly predicted negative emotional eating situations and emotions were change in the number of meals, food consumption, and living area (p<0.05), and the variables that significantly predicted positive emotional eating situations and emotions were age and change in the number of meals (p<0.05). Increased consumption of onion-garlic-spices and sugary food also predicted state anxiety scores significantly (p<0.05). State anxiety scores of individuals who used nutritional support for sleep disorders and immune enhancement increased statistically significantly (p<0.05). Finally, state anxiety had a partial mediating role in the prediction of positive/negative emoting eating situations and emotions by the total number of meals. The results are discussed in line with the literature.
Downloads
##submission.citations##
Altheimer, G., & Urry, H. L. (2019). Do emotions cause eating? The role of previous experiences and social context in emotional eating. Current Directions in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419837685
Ammar, A., Brach, M., Trabelsi, K., Chtourou, H., Boukhris, O., Masmoudi, L., ... & Müller, P. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 Home Confinement on Eating Behaviour and Physical Activity: Results of the ECLB- COVID19 International Online Survey. Nutrients, 12(6), 1583. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061583
Balaratnasingam, S., & Janca, A. (2006). Mass hysteria revisited. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 19(2), 171- 174.doi: 10.1097/01.yco.0000214343.59872.7a
Bekker, M. H., Van De Meerendonk, C., & Mollerus, J. (2004). Effects of negative mood induction and impulsivity on self‐perceived emotional eating. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 36(4), 461-469. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.20041
Bennett, J., Greene, G., & Schwartz-Barcott, D. (2013). Perceptions of emotional eating behavior. A qualitative study of college students. Appetite, 60, 187-192. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2012.09.023
Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8
Brown, T. A., Avery, J. C., Jones, M. D., Anderson, L. K., Wierenga, C. E., & Kaye, W. H. (2018). The impact of alexithymia on emotion dysregulation in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa over time. European Eating Disorders Review, 26(2), 150-155. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2574
Caulfield, K. A., & George, M. S. (2020). Treating the mental health effects of COVID-19: The need for at-home neurotherapeutics is now. Brain Stimulation: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation, 13(4), 939-940. DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2020.04.005
Demirel, B., Yavuz, K. F., Karadere, M. E., Şafak, Y., & Türkçapar, M. H. (2014). The Emotional Appetite Questionnaire (EAQ)’s Reliability and Validity and relationship with body mass index and emotional schemas. Journal of Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy and Research, 3(3), 171-181. doi:10.5455/JCBPR.44046
Di Renzo, L., Gualtieri, P., Pivari, F., Soldati, L., Attinà, A., Cinelli, G., ... & Esposito, E. (2020). Eating habits and lifestyle changes during COVID-19 lockdown: an Italian survey. Journal of Translational Medicine, 18(1), 1-15. doi: 10.1186/s12967-020-02399-5.
Dingemans, A., Danner, U., & Parks, M. (2017). Emotion regulation in binge eating disorder: A review. Nutrients, 9(11), 1274. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9111274
Echeverri-Alvarado, B., Pickett, S., & Gildner, D. (2020). A model of post-traumatic stress symptoms on binge eating through emotion regulation difficulties and emotional eating. Appetite, 104659. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.104659
Evers, C., Dingemans, A., Junghans, A. F., & Boevé, A. (2018). Feeling bad or feeling good, does emotion affect your consumption of food? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 92, 195-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.05.028
Flaskerud, J. H. (2015). Mood and food. Issues in mental health nursing, 36(4), 307-310. doi: 10.3109/01612840.2014.962677.
Gallo, L. A., Gallo, T. F., Young, S. L., Moritz, K. M., & Akison, L. K. (2020). The impact of isolation measures due to COVID-19 on energy intake and physical activity levels in Australian university students. medRxiv. doi:10.3390/nu12061865.
Harapan, H., Itoh, N., Yufika, A., Winardi, W., Keam, S., Te, H., ... & Mudatsir, M. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A literature review. Journal of Infection and Public Health. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2020.03.019.
Holder, M. D. (2019). The Contribution of Food Consumption to Well-Being. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 74(2), 44-52. https://doi.org/10.1159/000499147
Izydorczyk, B., Sitnik-Warchulska, K., Lizińczyk, S., & Lipiarz, A. (2019). Psychological predictors of unhealthy eating attitudes in young adults. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 590. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00590
Konttinen, H. (2012). Dietary habits and obesity: The role of emotional and cognitive factors. (Academic Dissertation, Helsinki University of Social Research Depertman). Finland. https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/29437
López-Bueno, R., Calatayud, J., Casaña, J., Casajús, J. A., Smith, L., Tully, M. A., ... & López-Sánchez, G. F. (2020). COVID-19 Confinement and Health Risk Behaviors in Spain. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1426. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01426
Ma, Y., Ratnasabapathy, R., & Gardiner, J. (2017). Carbohydrate Craving-not everything is sweet. Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care, 20(4), 261. doi:10.1097/MCO.0000000000000374
Macht M & Simons G (2011). Emotional eating. In I. Nyklíček, A. Vingerhoets, & M. Zeelenberg (Eds.), Emotion Regulation and Well-Being (pp. 281-295). New York: Springer.
Macht, M., Roth, S., & Ellgring, H. (2002). Chocolate eating in healthy men during experimentally induced sadness and joy. Appetite, 39(2), 147-158. doi: 10.1006/appe.2002.0499.
Macht, M., & Simons, G. (2000). Emotions and eating in everyday life. Appetite, 35(1), 65-71. doi: 10.1006/appe.2000.0325.
Macht, M. (2008). How emotions affect eating: a five-way model. Appetite, 50(1), 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2007.07.002.
Martinez-Ferran, M., de la Guía-Galipienso, F., Sanchis-Gomar, F., & Pareja-Galeano, H. (2020). Metabolic Impacts of Confinement during the COVID-19 Pandemic Due to Modified Diet and Physical Activity Habits. Nutrients, 12(6), 1549. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061549
Meule, A., Richard, A., Schnepper, R., Reichenberger, J., Georgii, C., Naab, S., ... & Blechert, J. (2019). Emotion regulation and emotional eating in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Eating Disorders, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2019.1642036
Moynihan, A. B., Van Tilburg, W. A., Igou, E. R., Wisman, A., Donnelly, A. E., & Mulcaire, J. B. (2015). Eaten up by boredom: Consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 369. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00369
Muscogiuri, G., Barrea, L., Savastano, S., & Colao, A. (2020). Nutritional recommendations for CoVID- 19 quarantine. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1-2. doi: 10.1038/s41430-020-0635-2.
Naja, F., & Hamadeh, R. (2020). Nutrition amid the COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-level framework for action. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1-5. doi: 10.1038/s41430-020-0634-3.
Nolan, L. J., Halperin, L. B., & Geliebter, A. (2010). Emotional Appetite Questionnaire. Construct validity and relationship with BMI. Appetite, 54(2), 314-319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2009.12.004
Oliver, G., Wardle, J., & Gibson, E. L. (2000). Stress and food choice: a laboratory study. Psychosomatic medicine, 62(6), 853-865. doi:10.1097/00006842-200011000-00016
Ouwens, M. A., van Strien, T., & van Leeuwe, J. F. (2009). Possible pathways between depression, emotional and external eating. A structural equation model. Appetite, 53(2), 245-248. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2009.06.001
Öner N, Le Compte A.(1983). State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Handbook. Boğaziçi Univercity Press.
Özenoğlu, A. (2018). Relationship Between Mood, Food and Nutrition. Acibadem University Health Sciences Journal, 9(4),357-365. https://doi.org/10.31067/0.2018.56
Phillipou, A., Meyer, D., Neill, E., Tan, E.J., Toh, W.L., Van Rheenen, T.E., Rossell, S.L. (2020). Eating and exercise behaviors in eating disorders and the general population during the COVID ‐19 pandemic in Australia: Initial results from the COLLATE project. Int J Eat Disord. 53, 1158– 1165. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23317
Rodríguez-Martín, B. C., & Meule, A. (2015). Food craving: new contributions on its assessment, moderators, and consequences. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 21. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00021
Rodríguez-Pérez, C., Molina-Montes, E., Verardo, V., Artacho, R., García-Villanova, B., Guerra- Hernández, E. J., & Ruíz-López, M. D. (2020). Changes in Dietary Behaviours during the COVID-19 Outbreak Confinement in the Spanish COVIDiet Study. Nutrients, 12(6), 1730. doi:10.3390/nu12061730.
Shimizu, K. (2020). 2019-nCoV, fake news, and racism. The lancet, 395(10225), 685-686. doi: 10.1016/S0140- 6736(20)30357-3.
Sidor, A., & Rzymski, P. (2020). Dietary Choices and Habits during COVID-19 Lockdown: Experience from Poland. Nutrients, 12(6), 1657. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061657
Stanton, R., To, Q. G., Khalesi, S., Williams, S. L., Alley, S. J., Thwaite, T. L., ... & Vandelanotte, C. (2020). Depression, Anxiety and Stress during COVID-19: Associations with Changes in Physical Activity, Sleep, Tobacco and Alcohol Use in Australian Adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(11), 4065. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17114065
Wahl, D. R., Villinger, K., König, L. M., Ziesemer, K., Schupp, H. T., & Renner, B. (2017). Healthy food choices are happy food choices: evidence from a real life sample using smartphone based assessments. Scientific reports, 7(1), 1-8. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-17262- 9
Wallis, D. J., & Hetherington, M. M. (2009). Emotions and eating. Self-reported and experimentally induced changes in food intake under stress. Appetite, 52(2), 355-362. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2008.11.007
White, B. A., Horwath, C. C., & Conner, T. S. (2013). Many apples a day keep the blues away–Daily experiences of negative and positive affect and food consumption in young adults. British journal of health psychology, 18(4), 782-798. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12021
World Health Organization [WHO] (2020). Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. https://covid19.who.int/
Yau, Y. H., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). Stress and eating behaviors. Minerva endocrinologica, 38(3), 255. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24126546/
Yıldız, E. Yeniçeri, E.N. and Öngel, K. (2019). Application of State-Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI-TX) in Randomly Selected Individuals and Results. Smyrna Med,20(1),19-24. https://www.smyrnatipdergisi.com/dosyalar_upload/belgeler/STAI- TX%20%C3%B6l%C3%A7e%C4%9Fi%20uygulamas%C4%B11564818207.pdf
Zellner, D. A., Loaiza, S., Gonzalez, Z., Pita, J., Morales, J., Pecora, D., & Wolf, A. (2006). Food selection changes under stress. Physiology & behavior, 87(4), 789-793. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2006.01.014
Section
License
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Transfer of Copyright and Permission to Reproduce Parts of Published Papers.
Authors retain the copyright for their published work. No formal permission will be required to reproduce parts (tables or illustrations) of published papers, provided the source is quoted appropriately and reproduction has no commercial intent. Reproductions with commercial intent will require written permission and payment of royalties.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.