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Objective: This study sought to (1) examine perceived stress and resources to cope with stress as predictors of emotional eating during the transition to college and (2) determine whether body mass index (BMI) moderated the emotional eating-stress relationship. Participants: Participants were 97 college freshmen (73% female; BMI: M = 25.3 kg/m[superscript 2], SD = 5.7 kg/m[superscript 2]). Research was conducted in September 2012. Methods: Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale, Emotional Eating Scale, and Eating and Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress Questionnaire during the first month of college. Height and weight were measured objectively. Results: BMI moderated the relationship between perceived stress and emotional eating. Higher stress predicted greater emotional eating for the lower BMI groups, but not the highest group. Greater resources to cope with stress predicted lower emotional eating. Conclusions: Greater perceived stress and poorer resources to cope with stress may contribute to emotional eating during the transition to college. The relationship between perceived stress and emotional eating may vary by BMI.

Objectives This study aimed to understand barriers to engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviors among adolescents with comorbid Type 1 diabetes (T1D) and overweight/obesity (n  =   12), their caregivers (n  =   12), and pediatric endocrinologists (n  =   9). Methods Participants (n  =   33) completed individual, semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and applied thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview data. Results Results from adolescents, caregivers, and pediatric endocrinologists revealed three thematic barriers to healthy lifestyle behaviors for adolescents with T1D and overweight/obesity: (1) discomfort with aspects of T1D that draw attention to the self; (2) T1D as a barrier to engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviors; and (3) physiological dysregulation due to T1D impacting health behaviors. Conclusions Results identify perceived limitations to engaging in recommended healthy lifestyle behaviors and diabetes management concurrently. Results may assist research and clinical care in identifying supports and guidance needed to support adolescents in meeting behavioral recommendations for their health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Over the past two decades, there has been a steady increase in research focused on the association between weight-based stigma and mental health outcomes in children and adolescents. The present study is a systematic review and meta-analysis of the associations between weight stigma and mental health in youth.Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, PsychInfo, and Embase databases was conducted in January 2020. Inclusion criteria included the following: (a) examined an association between weight stigma and a mental health outcome, (b) mean sample age <18 (+1 standard deviation) years, (c) written in English, and (d) peer reviewed. Forty eligible articles were identified. The moderating effects of age, sex (percent female), weight status (percent with overweight/obesity), and study quality were examined.Results: Overall, meta-analytic findings using a random-effects model indicated a statistically significant moderate association between weight stigma and poorer mental health outcomes (r = .32, 95% confidence interval [0.292, 0.347], p < .001). Age and study quality each moderated the association between weight stigma and mental health. Generally, the study quality was fair to poor, with many studies lacking validated measurement of weight stigma.Conclusions: Although there was a significant association between weight stigma and mental health in youth, study quality hinders the current body of literature. Furthermore, findings highlight the lack of consideration of internalized weight stigma in child populations, the importance of using validated measures of weight stigma, and the need for increased awareness of how these associations affect populations of diverse backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about what factors influence a caregiver to use controlling feeding practices with adolescents. The present study examines potential predictors (e.g., parent and child eating, parent and child weight, and the home environment) of the use of controlling feeding practices among adolescents, an age group that has not received much attention. Parents (N = 54, M age = 43.63 years, SD = 6.42; 94.4% female) of adolescents ages 12-17 (N = 54, M age = 13.94 years, SD = 1.75; 43.6% female) completed measures assessing their child feeding practices, eating patterns and the home environment. Adolescents completed measures of their eating patterns. Regression analyses were used to determine the most salient predictors of controlling child feeding practices, specifically restriction of food intake and pressure to eat. After controlling for adolescent age, parental dietary restraint was significantly associated with restriction and accounted for 15.2% of the variance in the use of restriction, F (1, 51) = 10.4, p<.01. Adolescent emotional eating and income-to-needs ratio were significantly associated with use of pressure above and beyond adolescent age and accounted for 29.1% of the variance in the use of pressure, F (2, 48) = 10.2, p<.001. This study suggests that future research should include factors from different levels of influence, such as child, parent and home environment. As understanding of these influences grows, efforts can be made to target specific contributors within intervention settings to address potential adverse outcomes associated with controlling feeding practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress is linked to emotional eating among adolescents, which in turn increases risk for overweight/obesity (OW/OB) development and continuation. There is a lack of research disentangling chronic and acute stress as predictors of adolescent emotional eating. Further, there is a corresponding need to understand the effects of acute physiological stress reactivity within the context of adolescent emotional eating. The primary aim of this study was to examine the impact of cortisol stress reactivity on emotional eating in adolescents, above and beyond the effects of perceived chronic stress. The impact of subjective stress reactivity was also explored. Adolescents' (N = 49) intake of highly palatable snack foods was measured on separate control and stress-induction (following the Trier Social Stress Test for Children) days. A multi-method approach was used to assess objective (caloric intake) and subjective (self-report) emotional eating. Results indicated that greater cortisol reactivity, but not subjective stress reactivity, predicted subjective emotional eating, beyond the impact of chronic stress. Neither chronic stress nor subjective or objective stress reactivity predicted objective emotional eating following stress-induction. Findings point to the role of chronic stress and cortisol reactivity as risks for greater perceived emotional eating among adolescents, while elucidating differences between perceived and objective emotional eating. Future research should explore how chronic versus acute stress differentially contribute to adolescent weight management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) have elevated eating disorder risk. No studies have examined weight stigma as a potential factor associated with disordered eating. This study investigated cross-sectional associations among weight-based victimization, weight bias internalization, and disordered eating in adolescents with T1D. Adolescents (12–17 years; N = 166) self-reported experiences of weight-based victimization from peers, family members, and healthcare professionals. The Weight Bias Internalization Scale (WBIS) and Diabetes Eating Problems Survey (DEPS-R) assessed internalized weight bias and disordered eating, respectively. In a series of multiple hierarchical linear regression analyses (controlling for zBMI, diabetes duration, HbA1c, sex), weight bias internalization, weight-based victimization, and frequency of weight-based victimization by peers, family, and healthcare professionals were all positively associated with disordered eating. Weight stigma is an understudied but potentially important factor to address in adolescents with T1D. Reducing weight stigma may be a promising, novel target for eating disorder prevention in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]