Premium
Fear of COVID ‐19 mediates the relationship between negative emotional reactivity and emotional eating
Author(s) -
Dominte Mădălina Elena,
Swami Viren,
Enea Violeta
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/sjop.12828
Subject(s) - psychology , covid-19 , reactivity (psychology) , emotional eating , negative emotion , eating behavior , clinical psychology , social psychology , developmental psychology , virology , obesity , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease
Recent studies have highlighted high levels of emotional eating during the coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic, but have not satisfactorily explained these changing eating patterns. Here, we tested one potential explanatory model broadly based on a biosocial model of emotional eating. Specifically, we examined the extent to which negative emotional reactivity was associated with emotional eating, as well as the mediating role of fear of COVID‐19. A total of 474 women from Romania were asked to complete measures of emotional eating, negative emotional reactivity, and fear of COVID‐19. Mediation analysis showed that higher negative emotional reactivity was significantly and directly associated with greater emotional eating. This direct relationship was also mediated by fear of COVID‐19. These results highlight one possible route through which the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic may have resulted in elevated rates of emotional eating, though further research is needed.