Food Cravings and Eating: The Role of Experiential Avoidance
1
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
2
Department of Psychological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44224, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(7), 1181; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071181
Received: 29 January 2019
/
Revised: 28 March 2019
/
Accepted: 29 March 2019
/
Published: 2 April 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pediatric Obesity Treatment and Prevention)
Food cravings have been associated with problematic eating behaviors, such as emotional eating. Late adolescence is an important developmental period to examine this association, as late adolescents have greater independence in food choices as well as potentially higher demands during a transitional period of their lives. Mechanisms underlying the association between food cravings and problematic eating remain unclear. This study examined whether experiential avoidance (EA) may be one possible mechanism mediating the association between higher levels of food cravings and problematic eating behaviors. Late adolescents (n = 174) completed measures assessing EA, food cravings, and three problematic eating behaviors: emotional eating, cognitive restraint, and uncontrolled eating. Height and weight were measured objectively to calculate body mass index (BMI). Food cravings were positively associated with emotional eating and mediated by EA. EA also significantly mediated the association between greater cognitive restraint and greater food cravings. No significant mediation was detected for food cravings and uncontrolled eating. Future research may consider EA as a treatment target in intervention strategies for late adolescents seeking to decrease emotional or restrained eating behaviors.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
late adolescence; experiential avoidance; food craving; eating behaviors; emotional eating; cognitive restraint; weight; body mass index
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Fahrenkamp, A.J.; Darling, K.E.; Ruzicka, E.B.; Sato, A.F. Food Cravings and Eating: The Role of Experiential Avoidance. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 1181. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071181
AMA Style
Fahrenkamp AJ, Darling KE, Ruzicka EB, Sato AF. Food Cravings and Eating: The Role of Experiential Avoidance. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(7):1181. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071181
Chicago/Turabian StyleFahrenkamp, Amy J., Katherine E. Darling, Elizabeth B. Ruzicka, and Amy F. Sato. 2019. "Food Cravings and Eating: The Role of Experiential Avoidance" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 7: 1181. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071181
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
