title: An exploratory study of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for emotional eating.
abstract: Emotional eating is an important predictor of weight loss and weight regain after weight loss. This two part study's primary aim was to explore changes in emotional eating in a general population of individuals taking the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, with a secondary aim to explore whether changes in mindfulness predicted changes in emotional eating. Self-reported survey data exploring these questions were collected before and after the intervention for two sequential studies (Study 1 and Study 2). While there were no control groups for either study, in both studies emotional eating scores following the MBSR were significantly lower than scores prior to taking the MBSR (p < 0.001; p < 0.001) In Study 2, changes in mindfulness were correlated with changes in emotional eating (r = 0.317, p = 0.004). These results suggest that MBSR may be an effective intervention for emotional eating, and that further research is warranted to examine effects on weight loss and maintenance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Levoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Asimina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lazaridou
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Judson
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brewer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA. Electronic address: carl.fulwiler@umassmed.edu.
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fulwiler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064866:Mindfulness / Q000379:methods*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Behavior change; Mindfulness; Weight loss