Do emotions influence the eating patterns of obese individuals? This paper reviews
30 years of clinical and experimental research in order to answer this question. The
result is a picture of considerable complexity in which emotions appear to influence
eating by obese subjects, but only if individual variability and several qualities
of emotional eating are considered. That is, unlike Kaplan and Kaplan's (1957)
simplistic anxiety-reduction model, current research indicates that individual differences
in food choice and in type of emotion precipitating eating need to be considered.
In addition, secrecy surrounding the eating and an episodic quality related
to overall level of stress need to be taken into consideration. When these parameters
are included, it appears that in certain emotional situations obese people eat
more than normal-weight individuals. Such eating appears to have an affect-reducing
effect, especially for negative emotions such as anger, loneliness, boredom, and
depression. Problems with current research including methodological shortcomings
are discussed.