دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی هوش هیجانی، اضطراب و غذا خوردن احساسی: بینش عمیق تر نسبت به یک ارتباط - الزویر 2018

ABSTRACT

Recent studies reported a negative association between emotional intelligence (EI: defined here as individual predispositions associated with effective identification and regulation of emotions) and emotional eating. Although theory provides some insights into how the concept represents mechanisms that may serve as protective factors, empirical evidence of the mechanism behind the association has yet to be presented. This study tested a proposed model in which anxiety levels mediate the association between emotional intelligence and emotional-eating patterns in a normative sample of women in Israel. A cross-sectional/ correlational design was used to gather data from 208 generally healthy female participants who completed measures of trait emotional intelligence, anxiety, and tendency toward emotional eating, as well as demographics. Anxiety levels mediated the negative association between emotional intelligence and emotional eating. Background variables had only marginal involvement in this model. The results shed light on the mechanisms underlying the association between emotional intelligence and emotional eating. Should future studies corroborate the findings, they may serve as a basis for future screening protocols, prevention and interventions with individuals and groups at risk of EE and eating disorders.

4. DISCUSSION

This study examined a proposed model accounting for the association between EI and EE. It was hypothesized that anxiety levels mediate the negative association between the two variables. The evidence, collected from a community sample of women dwelling in Israel supported the model, thus taking this budding field of research one small step further by proposing a potential mechanism(that could be one among many) explaining how EI associates with EE.

EE is considered a risk behavior in its own right and a so-called gateway behavior that may lead to eating disorders (Geliebter & Aversa, 2003). Current theory and empirical evidence emphasize the pivotal role of emotions, and more particularly negative emotions in this troubling phenomenon (Greeno & Wing, 1994; Van Blyderveen, Lafrance, Emond, Kosmerly, O’Connor, & Chang, 2016). No wonder, then, that EI, a concept directly associated with how effectively individuals process and manage emotions, shows a negative association with EE (Zysberg & Rubanov, 2010). A few studies supported this association in a variety of settings that included normative participants as well as samples of individuals diagnosed with eating disorders (Markey & Vander Wal, 2007; Zysberg, 2014; Zysberg & Tell, 2013).

What mechanisms account for the negative association between EI and EE? The literature on EE points toward negative emotional experiences as keys to EE symptoms or behaviors. The two most basic negative emotional experiences identified in the psychological literature are stress and anxiety (Folkman, 2013). Although these “usual suspects”—stress and anxiety—were well investigated in other contexts (e.g., Arnow et al., 1995; Wang & Li, 2017), the concept of anxiety has yet to be tested as the underlying mechanism accounting for the impact of EI on EE. Anxiety is a major concept in our understanding of mental and physical health as well as well-being in clinical and nonclinical populations (Bogg & Roberts, 2004; Larcombe, Tumbaga, Malkin, & Nicholson, 2013).