title: Self-control and parental control mediate the relationship between negative emotions and emotional eating among adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study was conducted to simultaneously investigate the mediating effects of parental control and adolescents' self-control on the relationship between adolescents' negative emotions and emotional eating, and to determine pathways with the greatest effect among these variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  Negative emotions, emotional eating, parental control, and self-control were investigated in 594 high school students (average age=16.70, SD=1.09) in Changsha City, China.
  
  
  RESULTS
  High levels of negative emotions and parental control and low levels of self-control were strongly related to high levels of emotional eating in adolescents. In addition to the direct relationship between negative emotions and emotional eating, there was a mediating effect observed through low self-control and high parental control. The mediational effect of parental control was non-significant in adolescent boys. Furthermore, negative emotions related to emotional eating through the effect of parental control on adolescents' self-control. The degree to which both mediators explained the relationship between negative emotions and emotional eating ranged from 52.6% to 66.8%, and self-control had a stronger mediational effect than did parental control.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that both self-control and parental control should be considered in designing preventative measures against emotional eating in adolescents. Adolescent self-control training could also assist in preventing emotional eating.
authors.affiliation: Medical Psychological Institute of The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Hunan Province Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Middle Ren-Min Road 139, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Medical Psychological Institute of The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Hunan Province Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Middle Ren-Min Road 139, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.
authors.forename: Xingwei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Medical Psychological Institute of The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Hunan Province Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Middle Ren-Min Road 139, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China. Electronic address: caitigers@sina.com.
authors.forename: Taisheng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Medical Psychological Institute of The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Hunan Province Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Middle Ren-Min Road 139, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.
authors.forename: Zhihua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Medical Psychological Institute of The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Hunan Province Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Middle Ren-Min Road 139, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.
authors.forename: Wenli
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Adolescents; Emotional eating; Multiple mediation model; Negative emotion; Parental control; Self-control