Development and Evaluation of a Novel Internet-Based Guided Self-Help Intervention for the Reduction of Emotional Eating

Abstract

Increasing caloric intake in response to stress or negative affect is referred to as emotional eating. Emotional eating has been cited as a factor related to elevated weight status and difficulty achieving and maintaining weight loss, but an intervention specifically targeting reductions in emotional eating has yet to be developed. The present study aimed to develop an Internet-based guided self-help program targeting a reduction in emotional eating (the RedEE Program). Undergraduate men and women (N=59) reporting a desire to reduce episodes of emotional eating were randomly assigned to either an intervention or waitlist condition. Participants in the intervention condition were given access to the RedEE Program during the first six weeks of the study period. Measures of emotional eating, loss of control over eating, and affect were assessed at baseline, 6-weeks, and 12-weeks. Participants who completed at least a portion of the intervention endorsed significantly lower levels of emotional eating, desire to eat in response to depressive emotions, loss of control over eating, and negative affect at the 6-week assessment compared to participants in the waitlist group. Only 36% of participants in the intervention condition completed the full RedEE Program. However, the majority of participants in the intervention group utilized at least a portion of the program with high acceptability and overall satisfaction.