Decomposing stress eating and emotional eating in daily life

Negative emotions and stress impact eating behavior, prompting some individuals to eat more, some less so called emotional eating or stress-eating. A considerable number of people suffer from emotional eating and stress-eating, which is associated with overweight, eating disorders or metabolic diseases. The psychological and physiological mechanisms of emotional eating and stress- eating are widely unknown. Additionally, both constructs are difficult to disentangle, even though they might have different underlying mechanisms. The current set of three studies aims to differentiate between emotional eating and stress-eating. Study 1 assesses the day-to-day relationship of emotions / stress with eating behavior through smartphone-based naturalistic assessments. In study 2, negative emotions and stress will be elicited and its impact on the evaluation of food pictures will be assessed. Simultaneous assessment of physiological parameters such as heart rate or stress hormones (e.g., cortisol) helps to estimate the amount of physiological effects. In study 3, emotional and stress eaters will receive specific emotion or stress regulating tips. Comparing their daily eating behavior before and after the intervention aids in estimating the impact of the intervention. In sum, the studies aim to differentiate between emotional eating and stress-eating and to explore their psychological and physiological mechanisms. Hence, the outcomes of the project will inform eating behavior-related theories and interventions alike.