The association of perceived stress, contextualized stress, and emotional eating with body mass index in college-aged Black women.
A growing body of literature supports the association between adverse stress experiences and health inequities, including obesity, among African American/Black women. Adverse stress experiences can contribute to poor appetite regulation, increased food intake, emotional eating, binge eating, and sedentary behavior, all of which can contribute to weight gain and obesity. Most research studies concerning the effect of psychological stress on eating behaviors have not examined the unique stress experience, body composition, and eating behaviors of African American/Black women. Even fewer studies have examined these constructs among Black female college students, who have an increased prevalence of overweight and obesity compared to their counterparts. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to examine the associations among emotional eating, perceived stress, contextualized stress, and BMI in African American female college students. All participants identified as African American or Black (N=99). The mean age of the sample was 19.4 years (SD=1.80). A statistically significant eating behavior patterns×perceived stress interaction was evident for body mass index (BMI) (β=0.036, S.E.=.0118, p<.01). In addition, a statistically significant eating behavior patterns×contextualized stress interaction was observed for BMI (β=0.007, S.E.=.0027, p=.015). Findings from this study demonstrate that the stress experience interacts with emotional eating to influence BMI. Based on these findings, culturally relevant interventions that target the unique stress experience and eating behavior patterns of young African American women are warranted.
The University of Florida, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, P.O. Box 100165, Gainesville, FL 32610-0165, United States. Electronic address: adiggins@phhp.ufl.edu.
Allyson
A
Diggins
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Nursing, CB# 7460, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7460, United States. Electronic address: Cheryl.Giscombe@unc.edu.
Cheryl
C
Woods-Giscombe
North Carolina Central University, Department of Psychology, 316 Taylor Education Building, Durham, NC 27707, United States. Electronic address: swaters@nccu.edu.
Sandra
S
Waters
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004435:Eating / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology; D010465:Perception; D015144:Southeastern United States; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
Emotional eating; Health disparities; Stress