The Mediating Role of Mindful Eating in the Relationship Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Emotional Eating

Aysu Bayram Saptır; Tuğba Seda Çolak Turan

doi:10.61399/ikcusbfd.1654125

Research Article

The Mediating Role of Mindful Eating in the Relationship Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Emotional Eating

Year 2025, Volume: 10 Issue: 3, 490 - 497, 30.09.2025

Aysu Bayram Saptır , Tuğba Seda Çolak Turan

https://doi.org/10.61399/ikcusbfd.1654125

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to examine the relationships among emotional eating, difficulties in emotion regulation, and mindful eating; specifically, to determine whether mindful eating mediates the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation and emotional eating.
Material and Methods: Data were collected online from 680 participants (83.5% women, 16.5% men). In addition to gathering demographic information, the Emotional Eating Scale (EES-30), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-36), and Mindful Eating Scale (MES-30) were administered. The data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 with independent samples t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, hierarchical regression analysis, and mediation analysis via the bootstrapping method.
Results: Females, smokers, and single individuals showed significantly higher emotional eating compared to males, non-smokers, and married/divorced participants, while no differences were found across education levels. Emotional eating was positively correlated with emotion regulation difficulties (r=0.34, p<0.001) and negatively with mindful eating (r=–0.64, p<0.001). Hierarchical regression showed that emotion regulation difficulties predicted emotional eating (β=0.34, p<0.001), but this effect decreased when mindful eating was included (β=0.17, p<0.001), confirming its partial mediating role (95% CI [–0.02, –0.01]).
Conclusion: The results suggest that enhancing mindful eating practices may reduce the tendency of individuals to rely on food as a coping mechanism for emotional fluctuations, thereby helping control emotional eating behaviors.
Keywords: Emotional eating, emotional regulation, mindfulness, mindful eating.

Keywords

Emotional eating , emotional regulation , mindfulness , mindful eating

References

1. Deveci B, Deveci B, Avcıkurt C. Eating behavior: An investigation on gastronomy and culinary arts pupils. J Tour Gastron Stud. 2017;5(3):118-34. DOI: 10.21325/jotags.2017.72
2. Özkan N, Bilici S. New approaches in eating behavior: Intuitive eating and eating awareness. Gazi J Health Sci. 2018;3(2):16-24. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.2536093
3. Geliebter A, Aversa A. Emotional eating in overweight, normal-weight, and underweight individuals. Eat Behav. 2003;3(4):341-7. DOI: 10.1016/S1471-0153(02)00100-0
4. Joormann J, Stanton CH. Examining emotion regulation in depression: A review and future directions. Behav Res Ther. 2016;86:35-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2016.07.007
5. Dereboy Ç, Şahin-Demirkapı E, Şakiroglu M, Şafak-Öztürk C. The relationship of childhood traumas with identity development, emotion regulation difficulties, and psychopathology. Turk J Psychiatry. 2018;29(4):269-78. DOI: 10.5080/u20910
6. Schore AN. Affect regulation and the repair of the self. New York (NY): W. W. Norton & Co.; 2003. 432 p.
7. Bruch H. Psychiatric aspects of obesity. Psychiatr Ann. 1973;3(7):6-9. DOI: 10.3928/0048-5713-19730701-04
8. Harris HA, Anzman-Frasca S, Marini ME, Paul IM, Birch LL, Savage JS. Effect of a responsive parenting intervention on child emotional overeating is mediated by reduced maternal use of food to soothe: The INSIGHT RCT. Pediatr Obes. 2020;15(10):e12645. DOI: 10.1111/ijpo.12645
9. Bowlby J. Attachment and loss. New York (NY): Basic Books; 1980. 407 p.
10. Schore AN. Affect regulation and the origin of the self: The neurobiology of emotional development. Hillsdale (NJ): Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.; 1994. 672 p.
11. Farrow CV, Haycraft E, Blissett JM. Teaching our children when to eat: How parental feeding practices inform the development of emotional eating—A longitudinal experimental design. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;101(5):908-13. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.114.103713
12. Haslam M, Arcelus J, Farrow C, Meyer C. Attitudes towards emotional expression mediate the relationship between childhood invalidation and adult eating concern. Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2012;20(6):510-4. DOI: 10.1002/erv.2198
13. Cutting TM, Fisher JO, Grimm-Thomas K, Birch LL. Like mother, like daughter: Familial patterns of overweight are mediated by mothers' dietary disinhibition. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;69(4):608-13. DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/69.4.608
14. De Lauzon-Guillain B, Romon M, Musher-Eizenman D, Heude B, Basdevant A, Charles MA, et al. Cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating: Correlations between parent and adolescent. Matern Child Nutr. 2009;5(2):171-8. DOI: 10.1111/j.1740-8709.2008.00164.x
15. Zocca JM, Shomaker LB, Tanofsky-Kraff M, Columbo KM, Raciti GR, Brady SM, et al. Links between mothers’ and children's disinhibited eating and children's adiposity. Appetite. 2011;56(2):324-31. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2010.12.014
16. Blissett J, Haycraft E, Farrow C. Inducing preschool children's emotional eating: Relations with parental feeding practices. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;92(2):359-65. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29375
17. Rodgers RF, Paxton SJ, Massey R, Campbell KJ, Wertheim EH, Skouteris H, et al. Maternal feeding practices predict weight gain and obesogenic eating behaviors in young children: A prospective study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2013;10:1-10. DOI: 10.1186/1479-5868-10-24
18. Rodgers RF, Paxton SJ, McLean SA, Campbell KJ, Wertheim EH, Skouteris H, et al. Maternal negative affect is associated with emotional feeding practices and emotional eating in young children. Appetite. 2014;80:242-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.05.022
19. Wardle J, Sanderson S, Guthrie CA, Rapoport L, Plomin R. Parental feeding style and the inter-generational transmission of obesity risk. Obes Res. 2002;10(6):453-62. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2002.63
20. Tan CC, Holub SC. Emotion regulation feeding practices link parents’ emotional eating to children’s emotional eating: A moderated mediation study. J Pediatr Psychol. 2015;40(7):657-63. DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsv015
21. Meyer C, Leung N, Barry L, De Feo D. Emotion and eating psychopathology: Links with attitudes toward emotional expression among young women. Int J Eat Disord. 2010;43(2):187-9. DOI: 10.1002/eat.20659
22. Disner SG, Beevers CG, Haigh EA, Beck AT. Neural mechanisms of the cognitive model of depression. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2011;12(8):467-77. DOI: 10.1038/nrn3027
23. Ochsner KN, Gross JJ. The cognitive control of emotion. Trends Cogn Sci. 2005;9(5):242-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2005.03.010
24. Kabat-Zinn J. Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York(NY): Hachette; 2009. 112 p.
25. Bishop SR, Lau M, Shapiro S, Carlson L, Anderson ND, Carmody J, et al. Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clin Psychol Sci Pract. 2004;11(3):230-41. DOI: 10.1093/clipsy/bph077
26. Baer RA, Fischer S, Huss DB. Mindfulness and acceptance in the treatment of disordered eating. J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Ther. 2006;23(4):281-300. DOI: 10.1007/s10942-005-0015-9
27. Kristeller J, Baer R, Wolever RQ. Mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions: Conceptualization, application, and empirical support: Mindfulness-based approaches to eating disorders. In: Baer R, editor. Mindfulness-Based Treatment Approaches. 1st ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2006. p. 75-91. DOI: 10.1016/B978-012088519-0/50005-8
28. Framson C, Kristal AR, Schenk JM, Littman AJ, Zeliadt S, Benitez D. Development and validation of the mindful eating questionnaire. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009;109(8):1439-44. DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2009.05.006
29. Köse G, Tayfur M, Birincioğlu İ, Dönmez A. Adaptation study of the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ) into Turkish. J Cogn Behav Psychother Res. 2016;5(3):125-34. DOI: 10.5455/JCBPR.250644
30. Kristeller JL, Hallett CB. An exploratory study of a meditation-based intervention for binge eating disorder. J Health Psychol. 1999;4(3):357-63. DOI: 10.1177/135910539900400305
31. Lattimore P. Mindfulness-based emotional eating awareness training: Taking the emotional out of eating. Eat Weight Disord. 2020;25(3):649–657. DOI: 10.1007/s40519-019-00667-y
32. Lindeman M, Stark K. Emotional eating and eating disorder psychopathology. Eat Disord. 2001;9(3):251-59. DOI: 10.1080/10640260127552
33. Katterman SN, Kleinman BM, Hood MM, Nackers LM, Corsica JA. Mindfulness meditation as an intervention for binge eating, emotional eating, and weight loss: A systematic review. Eat Behav. 2014;15(2):197-204. DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2014.01.005
34. Beccia AL, Ruf A, Druker S, Ludwig VU, Brewer JA. Women's experiences with a mindful eating program for binge and emotional eating: A qualitative investigation into the process of change. J Altern Complement Med. 2020;26(10):937-44. DOI: 10.1089/acm.2019.0318
35. Chiesa A, Serretti A. A systematic review of neurobiological and clinical features of mindfulness meditations. Psychol Med. 2010;40(8):1239-52. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291709991747
36. Baer RA, Walsh E, Lykins ELB. Assessment of mindfulness. In: Didonna F, editor. Clinical handbook of mindfulness. New York: Springer Science + Business Media; 2009. p. 153-68. DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-09593-6_10
37. Macht M, Simons G. Emotions and eating in everyday life. Appetite. 2000;35(1):65-71. DOI: 10.1006/appe.2000.0325
38. Hopkins LB, Medina JL, Baird SO, Rosenfield D, Powers MB, Smits JA. Heated hatha yoga to target cortisol reactivity to stress and affective eating in women at risk for obesity-related illnesses: A randomized controlled trial. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2016;84(6):558-64. DOI: 10.1037/ccp0000091
39. Farb NA, Segal ZV, Mayberg H, Bean J, McKeon D, Fatima Z, Anderson AK. Attending to the present: Mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2007;2(4):313-22. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsm030
40. Hölzel BK, Lazar SW, Gard T, Schuman-Olivier Z, Vago DR, Ott U. How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2011;6(6):537-59. DOI: 10.1177/1745691611419671
41. Lutz J, Herwig U, Opialla S, Hittmeyer A, Jäncke L, Rufer M, et al. Mindfulness and emotion regulation—An fMRI study. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2014;9(6):776-85. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nst043
42. Huang FY, Hsu AL, Hsu LM, Tsai JS, Huang CM, Chao YP, et al. Mindfulness improves emotion regulation and executive control in bereaved individuals: An fMRI study. Front Hum Neurosci. 2019;12:541. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00541
43. Bilgen SŞ. Development of the Turkish Emotional Eating Scale: A study on validity and reliability [master’s thesis]. Istanbul: Üsküdar University, Institute of Social Sciences; 2018. 34 p.
44. Gratz KL, Roemer L. Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. J Psychopathol Behav Assess. 2004;26(1):41-54. DOI: 10.1023/B:JOBA.0000007455.08539.94
45. Rugancı RN. The relationship among attachment style, affect regulation, psychological distress, and mental construction of the relational world [doctoral thesis]. Ankara. 2008. 67 p.
46. Rugancı RN, Gençöz T. Psychometric properties of a Turkish version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. J Clin Psychol. 2010;66(4):442-55. DOI: 10.1002/jclp.20665
47. Kim HY. Statistical notes for clinical researchers: Assessing normal distribution (2) using skewness and kurtosis. Restor Dent Endod. 2013;38(1):52-4. DOI: 10.5395/rde.2013.38.1.52
48. Preacher KJ, Hayes AF. Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behav Res Methods. 2008;40(3):879-91. DOI: 10.3758/brm.40.3.879
49. Baron RM, Kenny DA. The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986;51(6):1173-82. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173
50. Thompson S, Thompson SH, Romeo S. Gender and racial differences in emotional eating, food addiction symptoms, and body weight satisfaction among undergraduates. J Diabetes Obes. 2015;2(5):1-6. DOI: 10.15436/2376-0494.15.035
51. Hadar-Shoval D, Alon-Tirosh M, Asraf K, Tannous-Haddad L, Tzischinsky O. Lifestyle changes, emotional eating, gender, and stress during COVID-19 lockdown. Nutrients. 2022;14(18):3868-78. DOI: 10.3390/nu14183868
52. Larsen JK, van Strien T, Eisinga R, Engels RC. Gender differences in the association between alexithymia and emotional eating in obese individuals. J Psychosom Res. 2006;60(3):237-43. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2005.07.006
53. Klump KL, Keel PK, Racine SE, Burt SA, Neale M, Sisk CL, et al. The interactive effects of estrogen and progesterone on changes in emotional eating across the menstrual cycle. J Abnorm Psychol. 2013;122(1):131-7. DOI: 10.1037/a0029524
54. Van Strien T, Van der Zwaluw CS, Engels RC. Emotional eating in adolescents: A gene (SLC6A4/5-HTT)-depressive feelings interaction analysis. J Psychiatr Res. 2010;44(15):1035-42. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2010.03.012
55. Jones J, Kauffman BY, Rosenfield D, Smits JAJ, Zvolensky MJ. Emotion dysregulation and body mass index: The explanatory role of emotional eating among adult smokers. Eat Behav. 2019;33:97-101. DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2019.05.003
56. Marinelli L, Barber C. Smoking, laughing, and the compulsion to film: On the beginnings of psychoanalytic documentaries. Am Imago. 2004;61(1):35-58. DOI: 10.1353/AIM.2004.0016
57. Talbot LS, Maguen S, Epel ES, Metzler TJ, Neylan TC. Posttraumatic stress disorder is associated with emotional eating. J Trauma Stress. 2013;26(4):521-5. DOI: 10.1002/jts.21824
58. Mason TB. Loneliness, eating, and body mass index in parent–adolescent dyads from the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating study. Pers Relatsh. 2020;27(2):420-32. DOI: 10.1111/pere.12321
59. Bansal A. Relationship between loneliness, emotional eating, and body image in females. Int J Interdiscip Approaches Psychol. 2023;1(4):193-206. Available from: https://psychopediajournals.com/index.php/ijiap/article/view/111/90
60. Rosenqvist E, Kiviruusu O, Konttinen H. The associations of socioeconomic status and financial strain with restrained and emotional eating among 42-year-old women and men. Appetite. 2022;169:105795. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105795
61. López-Cepero A, Frisard C, Bey G, Lemon SC, Rosal MC. Association between food insecurity and emotional eating in Latinos and the mediating role of perceived stress. Public Health Nutr. 2020;23(4):642-8.
62. Gianini LM, White MA, Masheb RM. Eating pathology, emotion regulation, and emotional overeating in obese adults with binge eating disorder. Eat Behav. 2013;14(3):309-13. DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2013.05.008
63. Barnhart WR, Braden AL, Price E. Emotion regulation difficulties interact with negative, not positive, emotional eating to strengthen relationships with disordered eating: An exploratory study. Appetite. 2021;158:105038. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2020.105038
64. Wood SM, Schembre SM, He Q, Engelmann JM, Ames SL, Bechara A. Emotional eating and routine restraint scores are associated with activity in brain regions involved in urge and self-control. Physiol Behav. 2016;165:405-12. DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.08.024
65. Altınok M. Investigation of eating attitudes, emotional eating, mindful eating, and orthorexia in terms of metacognition [master’s thesis]. Ankara. 89 p.
66. Kabat-Zinn J, Hanh TN. Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness. New York: Delta; 2009.
67. Keesman M, Aarts H, Häfner M, Papies EK. Mindfulness reduces reactivity to food cues: Underlying mechanisms and applications in daily life. Curr Addict Rep. 2017;4(2):151-7. DOI: 10.1007/s40429-017-0134-2
68. Hill CL, Updegraff JA. Mindfulness and its relationship to emotional regulation. Emotion. 2012;12(1):81-90. DOI: 10.1037/a0026355
69. Garland EL, Gaylord SA, Fredrickson BL. Positive reappraisal mediates the stress-reductive effects of mindfulness: An upward spiral process. Mindfulness. 2011;2(1):59-67. DOI: 10.1007/s12671-011-0043-8
70. Teper R, Segal ZV, Inzlicht M. Inside the mindful mind: How mindfulness enhances emotion regulation through improvements in executive control. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2013;22(6):449-54. DOI: 10.1177/0963721413495869
71. Sayers WM, Creswell JD, Taren A. The emerging neurobiology of mindfulness and emotion processing. In: Ostafin BD, Robinson MD, Meier BP, editors. Handbook of mindfulness and self-regulation. New York: Springer Science + Business Media; 2015. p. 9-22. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2263-5_2
72. Chambers R, Gullone E, Allen NB. Mindful emotion regulation: An integrative review. Clin Psychol Rev. 2009;29(6):560-72. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2009.06.005
73. Garland EL, Fredrickson B, Kring AM, Johnson DP, Meyer PS, Penn DL. Upward spirals of positive emotions counter downward spirals of negativity: Insights from the broaden-and-build theory and affective neuroscience on the treatment of emotion dysfunctions and deficits in psychopathology. Clin Psychol Rev. 2010;30(7):849-64. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.002
74. Kristeller J, Wolever RQ, Sheets V. Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT) for binge eating: A randomized clinical trial. Mindfulness. 2014;5(3):282-97. DOI: 10.1007/s12671-012-0179-1
75. Mason AE, Jhaveri K, Cohn M, Brewer JA. Testing a mobile mindful eating intervention targeting craving-related eating: Feasibility and proof of concept. J Behav Med. 2018;41(2):160-73. DOI: 10.1007/s10865-017-9884-5
76. Levoy E, Lazaridou A, Brewer J, Fulwiler C. An exploratory study of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for emotional eating. Appetite. 2017;109:124-30. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2016.11.029
77. Mantzios M, Egan H, Hussain M, Keyte R, Bahia H. Mindfulness, self-compassion, and mindful eating in relation to fat and sugar consumption: An exploratory investigation. Eat Weight Disord. 2018;23(6):833-40. DOI: 10.1007/s40519-018-0548-4

Duygu Düzenleme Güçlüğü ve Duygusal Yeme Arasındaki İlişkide Yeme Farkındalığının Aracı Rolü

Year 2025, Volume: 10 Issue: 3, 490 - 497, 30.09.2025

Aysu Bayram Saptır , Tuğba Seda Çolak Turan

https://doi.org/10.61399/ikcusbfd.1654125

Abstract

Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı, duygusal yeme, duygu düzenleme güçlüğü ve yeme farkındalığı arasındaki ilişkileri incelemek; özellikle de yeme farkındalığının, duygu düzenleme güçlüğü ile duygusal yeme arasındaki ilişkiye aracılık edip etmediğini ortaya koymaktır.
Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalışmada, çevrimiçi ortamda 680 katılımcıdan (kadın %83,5, erkek %16,5) veri toplanmıştır. Katılımcıların demografik bilgileri ile Duygusal Yeme Ölçeği (DYÖ-30), Duygu Düzenleme Güçlüğü Ölçeği (DDGÖ-36) ve Yeme Farkındalığı Ölçeği (YFÖ-30) uygulanmıştır. Veriler, SPSS 22.0 kullanılarak; bağımsız örneklem t-testi, ANOVA, Pearson korelasyonu, hiyerarşik regresyon analizi ve bootstrapping yöntemiyle aracılık analizi uygulanarak değerlendirilmiştir.
Bulgular: Kadınlar erkeklere göre, sigara içenler içmeyenlere göre ve bekârlar evli/boşanmış bireylere göre anlamlı düzeyde daha yüksek duygusal yeme davranışı sergilemiştir. Eğitim düzeyi açısından fark bulunmamıştır. Duygusal yeme, duygu düzenleme güçlükleriyle pozitif (r=0.34, p<0.001), bilinçli yeme ile negatif ilişkilidir (r=–0,64, p<0,001). Hiyerarşik regresyonda duygu düzenleme güçlükleri duygusal yeme üzerinde anlamlı yordayıcı iken (β=0.34, p<0.001), modele bilinçli yeme eklendiğinde bu etki azalmış (β=0,17, p <0,001) ve bilinçli yemenin kısmi aracılık rolü doğrulanmıştır (95% CI [–0,02, –0,01]).
Sonuç: Elde edilen sonuçlar, farkındalıkla yeme pratiklerinin geliştirilmesinin, bireylerin duygusal dalgalanmalar karşısında yemekle başa çıkma eğilimlerini azaltabileceğini, böylece duygusal yeme davranışının kontrol altına alınmasına yardımcı olabileceğini göstermektedir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Duygusal yeme, duygu düzenleme, bilinçli farkındalık, yeme farkındalığı.

Keywords

Duygusal yeme , duygu düzenleme , bilinçli farkındalık , yeme farkındalığı

References

1. Deveci B, Deveci B, Avcıkurt C. Eating behavior: An investigation on gastronomy and culinary arts pupils. J Tour Gastron Stud. 2017;5(3):118-34. DOI: 10.21325/jotags.2017.72
2. Özkan N, Bilici S. New approaches in eating behavior: Intuitive eating and eating awareness. Gazi J Health Sci. 2018;3(2):16-24. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.2536093
3. Geliebter A, Aversa A. Emotional eating in overweight, normal-weight, and underweight individuals. Eat Behav. 2003;3(4):341-7. DOI: 10.1016/S1471-0153(02)00100-0
4. Joormann J, Stanton CH. Examining emotion regulation in depression: A review and future directions. Behav Res Ther. 2016;86:35-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2016.07.007
5. Dereboy Ç, Şahin-Demirkapı E, Şakiroglu M, Şafak-Öztürk C. The relationship of childhood traumas with identity development, emotion regulation difficulties, and psychopathology. Turk J Psychiatry. 2018;29(4):269-78. DOI: 10.5080/u20910
6. Schore AN. Affect regulation and the repair of the self. New York (NY): W. W. Norton & Co.; 2003. 432 p.
7. Bruch H. Psychiatric aspects of obesity. Psychiatr Ann. 1973;3(7):6-9. DOI: 10.3928/0048-5713-19730701-04
8. Harris HA, Anzman-Frasca S, Marini ME, Paul IM, Birch LL, Savage JS. Effect of a responsive parenting intervention on child emotional overeating is mediated by reduced maternal use of food to soothe: The INSIGHT RCT. Pediatr Obes. 2020;15(10):e12645. DOI: 10.1111/ijpo.12645
9. Bowlby J. Attachment and loss. New York (NY): Basic Books; 1980. 407 p.
10. Schore AN. Affect regulation and the origin of the self: The neurobiology of emotional development. Hillsdale (NJ): Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.; 1994. 672 p.
11. Farrow CV, Haycraft E, Blissett JM. Teaching our children when to eat: How parental feeding practices inform the development of emotional eating—A longitudinal experimental design. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;101(5):908-13. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.114.103713
12. Haslam M, Arcelus J, Farrow C, Meyer C. Attitudes towards emotional expression mediate the relationship between childhood invalidation and adult eating concern. Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2012;20(6):510-4. DOI: 10.1002/erv.2198
13. Cutting TM, Fisher JO, Grimm-Thomas K, Birch LL. Like mother, like daughter: Familial patterns of overweight are mediated by mothers' dietary disinhibition. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;69(4):608-13. DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/69.4.608
14. De Lauzon-Guillain B, Romon M, Musher-Eizenman D, Heude B, Basdevant A, Charles MA, et al. Cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating: Correlations between parent and adolescent. Matern Child Nutr. 2009;5(2):171-8. DOI: 10.1111/j.1740-8709.2008.00164.x
15. Zocca JM, Shomaker LB, Tanofsky-Kraff M, Columbo KM, Raciti GR, Brady SM, et al. Links between mothers’ and children's disinhibited eating and children's adiposity. Appetite. 2011;56(2):324-31. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2010.12.014
16. Blissett J, Haycraft E, Farrow C. Inducing preschool children's emotional eating: Relations with parental feeding practices. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;92(2):359-65. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29375
17. Rodgers RF, Paxton SJ, Massey R, Campbell KJ, Wertheim EH, Skouteris H, et al. Maternal feeding practices predict weight gain and obesogenic eating behaviors in young children: A prospective study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2013;10:1-10. DOI: 10.1186/1479-5868-10-24
18. Rodgers RF, Paxton SJ, McLean SA, Campbell KJ, Wertheim EH, Skouteris H, et al. Maternal negative affect is associated with emotional feeding practices and emotional eating in young children. Appetite. 2014;80:242-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.05.022
19. Wardle J, Sanderson S, Guthrie CA, Rapoport L, Plomin R. Parental feeding style and the inter-generational transmission of obesity risk. Obes Res. 2002;10(6):453-62. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2002.63
20. Tan CC, Holub SC. Emotion regulation feeding practices link parents’ emotional eating to children’s emotional eating: A moderated mediation study. J Pediatr Psychol. 2015;40(7):657-63. DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsv015
21. Meyer C, Leung N, Barry L, De Feo D. Emotion and eating psychopathology: Links with attitudes toward emotional expression among young women. Int J Eat Disord. 2010;43(2):187-9. DOI: 10.1002/eat.20659
22. Disner SG, Beevers CG, Haigh EA, Beck AT. Neural mechanisms of the cognitive model of depression. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2011;12(8):467-77. DOI: 10.1038/nrn3027
23. Ochsner KN, Gross JJ. The cognitive control of emotion. Trends Cogn Sci. 2005;9(5):242-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2005.03.010
24. Kabat-Zinn J. Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York(NY): Hachette; 2009. 112 p.
25. Bishop SR, Lau M, Shapiro S, Carlson L, Anderson ND, Carmody J, et al. Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clin Psychol Sci Pract. 2004;11(3):230-41. DOI: 10.1093/clipsy/bph077
26. Baer RA, Fischer S, Huss DB. Mindfulness and acceptance in the treatment of disordered eating. J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Ther. 2006;23(4):281-300. DOI: 10.1007/s10942-005-0015-9
27. Kristeller J, Baer R, Wolever RQ. Mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions: Conceptualization, application, and empirical support: Mindfulness-based approaches to eating disorders. In: Baer R, editor. Mindfulness-Based Treatment Approaches. 1st ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2006. p. 75-91. DOI: 10.1016/B978-012088519-0/50005-8
28. Framson C, Kristal AR, Schenk JM, Littman AJ, Zeliadt S, Benitez D. Development and validation of the mindful eating questionnaire. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009;109(8):1439-44. DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2009.05.006
29. Köse G, Tayfur M, Birincioğlu İ, Dönmez A. Adaptation study of the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ) into Turkish. J Cogn Behav Psychother Res. 2016;5(3):125-34. DOI: 10.5455/JCBPR.250644
30. Kristeller JL, Hallett CB. An exploratory study of a meditation-based intervention for binge eating disorder. J Health Psychol. 1999;4(3):357-63. DOI: 10.1177/135910539900400305
31. Lattimore P. Mindfulness-based emotional eating awareness training: Taking the emotional out of eating. Eat Weight Disord. 2020;25(3):649–657. DOI: 10.1007/s40519-019-00667-y
32. Lindeman M, Stark K. Emotional eating and eating disorder psychopathology. Eat Disord. 2001;9(3):251-59. DOI: 10.1080/10640260127552
33. Katterman SN, Kleinman BM, Hood MM, Nackers LM, Corsica JA. Mindfulness meditation as an intervention for binge eating, emotional eating, and weight loss: A systematic review. Eat Behav. 2014;15(2):197-204. DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2014.01.005
34. Beccia AL, Ruf A, Druker S, Ludwig VU, Brewer JA. Women's experiences with a mindful eating program for binge and emotional eating: A qualitative investigation into the process of change. J Altern Complement Med. 2020;26(10):937-44. DOI: 10.1089/acm.2019.0318
35. Chiesa A, Serretti A. A systematic review of neurobiological and clinical features of mindfulness meditations. Psychol Med. 2010;40(8):1239-52. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291709991747
36. Baer RA, Walsh E, Lykins ELB. Assessment of mindfulness. In: Didonna F, editor. Clinical handbook of mindfulness. New York: Springer Science + Business Media; 2009. p. 153-68. DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-09593-6_10
37. Macht M, Simons G. Emotions and eating in everyday life. Appetite. 2000;35(1):65-71. DOI: 10.1006/appe.2000.0325
38. Hopkins LB, Medina JL, Baird SO, Rosenfield D, Powers MB, Smits JA. Heated hatha yoga to target cortisol reactivity to stress and affective eating in women at risk for obesity-related illnesses: A randomized controlled trial. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2016;84(6):558-64. DOI: 10.1037/ccp0000091
39. Farb NA, Segal ZV, Mayberg H, Bean J, McKeon D, Fatima Z, Anderson AK. Attending to the present: Mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2007;2(4):313-22. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsm030
40. Hölzel BK, Lazar SW, Gard T, Schuman-Olivier Z, Vago DR, Ott U. How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2011;6(6):537-59. DOI: 10.1177/1745691611419671
41. Lutz J, Herwig U, Opialla S, Hittmeyer A, Jäncke L, Rufer M, et al. Mindfulness and emotion regulation—An fMRI study. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2014;9(6):776-85. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nst043
42. Huang FY, Hsu AL, Hsu LM, Tsai JS, Huang CM, Chao YP, et al. Mindfulness improves emotion regulation and executive control in bereaved individuals: An fMRI study. Front Hum Neurosci. 2019;12:541. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00541
43. Bilgen SŞ. Development of the Turkish Emotional Eating Scale: A study on validity and reliability [master’s thesis]. Istanbul: Üsküdar University, Institute of Social Sciences; 2018. 34 p.
44. Gratz KL, Roemer L. Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. J Psychopathol Behav Assess. 2004;26(1):41-54. DOI: 10.1023/B:JOBA.0000007455.08539.94
45. Rugancı RN. The relationship among attachment style, affect regulation, psychological distress, and mental construction of the relational world [doctoral thesis]. Ankara. 2008. 67 p.
46. Rugancı RN, Gençöz T. Psychometric properties of a Turkish version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. J Clin Psychol. 2010;66(4):442-55. DOI: 10.1002/jclp.20665
47. Kim HY. Statistical notes for clinical researchers: Assessing normal distribution (2) using skewness and kurtosis. Restor Dent Endod. 2013;38(1):52-4. DOI: 10.5395/rde.2013.38.1.52
48. Preacher KJ, Hayes AF. Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behav Res Methods. 2008;40(3):879-91. DOI: 10.3758/brm.40.3.879
49. Baron RM, Kenny DA. The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986;51(6):1173-82. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173
50. Thompson S, Thompson SH, Romeo S. Gender and racial differences in emotional eating, food addiction symptoms, and body weight satisfaction among undergraduates. J Diabetes Obes. 2015;2(5):1-6. DOI: 10.15436/2376-0494.15.035
51. Hadar-Shoval D, Alon-Tirosh M, Asraf K, Tannous-Haddad L, Tzischinsky O. Lifestyle changes, emotional eating, gender, and stress during COVID-19 lockdown. Nutrients. 2022;14(18):3868-78. DOI: 10.3390/nu14183868
52. Larsen JK, van Strien T, Eisinga R, Engels RC. Gender differences in the association between alexithymia and emotional eating in obese individuals. J Psychosom Res. 2006;60(3):237-43. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2005.07.006
53. Klump KL, Keel PK, Racine SE, Burt SA, Neale M, Sisk CL, et al. The interactive effects of estrogen and progesterone on changes in emotional eating across the menstrual cycle. J Abnorm Psychol. 2013;122(1):131-7. DOI: 10.1037/a0029524
54. Van Strien T, Van der Zwaluw CS, Engels RC. Emotional eating in adolescents: A gene (SLC6A4/5-HTT)-depressive feelings interaction analysis. J Psychiatr Res. 2010;44(15):1035-42. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2010.03.012
55. Jones J, Kauffman BY, Rosenfield D, Smits JAJ, Zvolensky MJ. Emotion dysregulation and body mass index: The explanatory role of emotional eating among adult smokers. Eat Behav. 2019;33:97-101. DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2019.05.003
56. Marinelli L, Barber C. Smoking, laughing, and the compulsion to film: On the beginnings of psychoanalytic documentaries. Am Imago. 2004;61(1):35-58. DOI: 10.1353/AIM.2004.0016
57. Talbot LS, Maguen S, Epel ES, Metzler TJ, Neylan TC. Posttraumatic stress disorder is associated with emotional eating. J Trauma Stress. 2013;26(4):521-5. DOI: 10.1002/jts.21824
58. Mason TB. Loneliness, eating, and body mass index in parent–adolescent dyads from the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating study. Pers Relatsh. 2020;27(2):420-32. DOI: 10.1111/pere.12321
59. Bansal A. Relationship between loneliness, emotional eating, and body image in females. Int J Interdiscip Approaches Psychol. 2023;1(4):193-206. Available from: https://psychopediajournals.com/index.php/ijiap/article/view/111/90
60. Rosenqvist E, Kiviruusu O, Konttinen H. The associations of socioeconomic status and financial strain with restrained and emotional eating among 42-year-old women and men. Appetite. 2022;169:105795. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105795
61. López-Cepero A, Frisard C, Bey G, Lemon SC, Rosal MC. Association between food insecurity and emotional eating in Latinos and the mediating role of perceived stress. Public Health Nutr. 2020;23(4):642-8.
62. Gianini LM, White MA, Masheb RM. Eating pathology, emotion regulation, and emotional overeating in obese adults with binge eating disorder. Eat Behav. 2013;14(3):309-13. DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2013.05.008
63. Barnhart WR, Braden AL, Price E. Emotion regulation difficulties interact with negative, not positive, emotional eating to strengthen relationships with disordered eating: An exploratory study. Appetite. 2021;158:105038. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2020.105038
64. Wood SM, Schembre SM, He Q, Engelmann JM, Ames SL, Bechara A. Emotional eating and routine restraint scores are associated with activity in brain regions involved in urge and self-control. Physiol Behav. 2016;165:405-12. DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.08.024
65. Altınok M. Investigation of eating attitudes, emotional eating, mindful eating, and orthorexia in terms of metacognition [master’s thesis]. Ankara. 89 p.
66. Kabat-Zinn J, Hanh TN. Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness. New York: Delta; 2009.
67. Keesman M, Aarts H, Häfner M, Papies EK. Mindfulness reduces reactivity to food cues: Underlying mechanisms and applications in daily life. Curr Addict Rep. 2017;4(2):151-7. DOI: 10.1007/s40429-017-0134-2
68. Hill CL, Updegraff JA. Mindfulness and its relationship to emotional regulation. Emotion. 2012;12(1):81-90. DOI: 10.1037/a0026355
69. Garland EL, Gaylord SA, Fredrickson BL. Positive reappraisal mediates the stress-reductive effects of mindfulness: An upward spiral process. Mindfulness. 2011;2(1):59-67. DOI: 10.1007/s12671-011-0043-8
70. Teper R, Segal ZV, Inzlicht M. Inside the mindful mind: How mindfulness enhances emotion regulation through improvements in executive control. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2013;22(6):449-54. DOI: 10.1177/0963721413495869
71. Sayers WM, Creswell JD, Taren A. The emerging neurobiology of mindfulness and emotion processing. In: Ostafin BD, Robinson MD, Meier BP, editors. Handbook of mindfulness and self-regulation. New York: Springer Science + Business Media; 2015. p. 9-22. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2263-5_2
72. Chambers R, Gullone E, Allen NB. Mindful emotion regulation: An integrative review. Clin Psychol Rev. 2009;29(6):560-72. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2009.06.005
73. Garland EL, Fredrickson B, Kring AM, Johnson DP, Meyer PS, Penn DL. Upward spirals of positive emotions counter downward spirals of negativity: Insights from the broaden-and-build theory and affective neuroscience on the treatment of emotion dysfunctions and deficits in psychopathology. Clin Psychol Rev. 2010;30(7):849-64. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.002
74. Kristeller J, Wolever RQ, Sheets V. Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT) for binge eating: A randomized clinical trial. Mindfulness. 2014;5(3):282-97. DOI: 10.1007/s12671-012-0179-1
75. Mason AE, Jhaveri K, Cohn M, Brewer JA. Testing a mobile mindful eating intervention targeting craving-related eating: Feasibility and proof of concept. J Behav Med. 2018;41(2):160-73. DOI: 10.1007/s10865-017-9884-5
76. Levoy E, Lazaridou A, Brewer J, Fulwiler C. An exploratory study of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for emotional eating. Appetite. 2017;109:124-30. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2016.11.029
77. Mantzios M, Egan H, Hussain M, Keyte R, Bahia H. Mindfulness, self-compassion, and mindful eating in relation to fat and sugar consumption: An exploratory investigation. Eat Weight Disord. 2018;23(6):833-40. DOI: 10.1007/s40519-018-0548-4

There are 77 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language	English
Subjects	Nutritional Science
Journal Section	Research Articles
Authors	Aysu Bayram Saptır 0000-0003-3949-6878 Tuğba Seda Çolak Turan 0000-0002-7219-1999
Publication Date	September 30, 2025
Submission Date	March 9, 2025
Acceptance Date	August 29, 2025
Published in Issue	Year 2025 Volume: 10 Issue: 3

Cite

APA	Bayram Saptır, A., & Çolak Turan, T. S. (2025). The Mediating Role of Mindful Eating in the Relationship Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Emotional Eating. İzmir Katip Çelebi Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi, 10(3), 490-497. https://doi.org/10.61399/ikcusbfd.1654125
AMA	Bayram Saptır A, Çolak Turan TS. The Mediating Role of Mindful Eating in the Relationship Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Emotional Eating. İKÇÜSBFD. September 2025;10(3):490-497. doi:10.61399/ikcusbfd.1654125
Chicago	Bayram Saptır, Aysu, and Tuğba Seda Çolak Turan. “The Mediating Role of Mindful Eating in the Relationship Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Emotional Eating”. İzmir Katip Çelebi Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi 10, no. 3 (September 2025): 490-97. https://doi.org/10.61399/ikcusbfd.1654125.
EndNote	Bayram Saptır A, Çolak Turan TS (September 1, 2025) The Mediating Role of Mindful Eating in the Relationship Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Emotional Eating. İzmir Katip Çelebi Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi 10 3 490–497.
IEEE	A. Bayram Saptır and T. S. Çolak Turan, “The Mediating Role of Mindful Eating in the Relationship Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Emotional Eating”, İKÇÜSBFD, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 490–497, 2025, doi: 10.61399/ikcusbfd.1654125.
ISNAD	Bayram Saptır, Aysu - Çolak Turan, Tuğba Seda. “The Mediating Role of Mindful Eating in the Relationship Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Emotional Eating”. İzmir Katip Çelebi Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi 10/3 (September2025), 490-497. https://doi.org/10.61399/ikcusbfd.1654125.
JAMA	Bayram Saptır A, Çolak Turan TS. The Mediating Role of Mindful Eating in the Relationship Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Emotional Eating. İKÇÜSBFD. 2025;10:490–497.
MLA	Bayram Saptır, Aysu and Tuğba Seda Çolak Turan. “The Mediating Role of Mindful Eating in the Relationship Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Emotional Eating”. İzmir Katip Çelebi Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi, vol. 10, no. 3, 2025, pp. 490-7, doi:10.61399/ikcusbfd.1654125.
Vancouver	Bayram Saptır A, Çolak Turan TS. The Mediating Role of Mindful Eating in the Relationship Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Emotional Eating. İKÇÜSBFD. 2025;10(3):490-7.

Download Cover Image

Article Files

Full Text

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.