ABSTRACT
A common dysfunctional eating behavior is emotional eating (EE), or eating in response to negative emotional states, as 15-43 percent (Jääskeläinen et al., 2014; Nguyen-Rodriguez, Unger, & Spruijt-Metz, 2009) of healthy adolescents and 63 percent (Shapiro et al., 2007) of treatment-seeking youth report EE. Youth who eat for emotional reasons may eat in response to feelings of anger, anxiety, frustration, or depression (Tanofsky-Kraff et al., 2007) and EE may function as an escape from negative affect (Heatherton & Baumeister, 1991). EE is associated with overeating (van Strien, Engels, Leeuwe, & Snoek, 2005), eating disorder symptoms (Goossens, Braet, Van Vlierberghs, & Mels, 2009), and depression, anxiety, and appearance overvaluation (Stice, Presnell, & Spangler, 2002).
