Food Consumption, Restraint, and Stress
Abstract
It is important to examine the relationship between stress and food consumption because of the pervasiveness of stress in today's society and the health and social consequences of over and/or undereating. Literature addressing the food consumption and stress relationship does not completely clarify the role of stress in eating behavior. Recent studies have found that restraint, sex, and food type affect the results of studies. However, these studies left some important questions unanswered. The present study compared restrained and unrestrained women's eating during both stress and control. The previously proposed reduction in restraint during stress was also tested, and the effect of food availability on stress levels of restrained and unrestrained women was tested. The relationship between distraction and food consumption was examined. Sixty-four women participated in the experiment. A repeated measures, counterbalanced design was used. Stress was manipulated by having subjects give a speech that was videotaped. As a control, subjects prepared but did not give another speech. One condition afforded high and low restrainers the opportunity to eat snacks from three different taste groups during both stress and control, while the other condition was similar but no food was available. Psychophysiological, mood, restraint, and distraction measures were obtained during both manipulations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 05, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA634766
Entities
People
- Stephen A. Talmadge
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences