title: No calorie comfort: Viewing and drawing "comfort foods" similarly augment positive mood for those with depression.
abstract: Based on behavioral and neurobiological data, we tested the hypothesis that viewing/drawing visual images of comfort foods in the absence of eating will increase positive mood and that this effect is augmented for those with clinical symptoms of depression. A counterbalanced design was used for 60 participants with and without clinical symptoms in two variations: food image and food art. In each variation, participants viewed/drew foods high or low in fat/sugar; pre-post mood was recorded. Results show a consistent pattern: viewing/drawing comfort foods [food image (95% confidence interval): 2.72-4.85; food art (95% confidence interval): 2.65-4.62] and fruits [food image (95% confidence interval): 1.20-2.23; food art (95% confidence interval): 1.51-2.56] enhanced mood. For comfort foods, mood was augmented for those with clinical symptoms of depression [food image (95% confidence interval): 0.95-3.59; food art (95% confidence interval): 0.97-3.46]. Findings corroborate previous data and reveal a novel finding of augmented mood increases for those with clinical symptoms.
authors.affiliation: 1 St. Bonaventure University, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Privitera
authors.affiliation: 1 St. Bonaventure University, USA.
authors.forename: Deeanna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Welling
authors.affiliation: 1 St. Bonaventure University, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tejada
authors.affiliation: 1 St. Bonaventure University, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sweazy
authors.affiliation: 1 St. Bonaventure University, USA.
authors.forename: Kayla N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Cuifolo
authors.affiliation: 1 St. Bonaventure University, USA.
authors.forename: Quentin W
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: King-Shepard
authors.affiliation: 2 Duke University, USA.
authors.forename: P Murali
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Doraiswamy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001155:Art Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014796:Visual Perception
keywords: depression; emotion; food; obesity; treatment