Logo image
Back
examination of the interrelationships among impulsivity, stress, disordered eating, and obesity
Thesis   Open access

examination of the interrelationships among impulsivity, stress, disordered eating, and obesity

Timothy Peter Jorgenson
University of West Florida,
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
2020

Metrics

9 File views/ downloads
65 Record Views

Abstract

Obesity, disordered eating, impulsivity, and stress represent distinct conditions, each with its own etiology and course and the potential to create profound ill-health in an individual. This study examined the interrelationship among these four health phenomena. Over a hundred college student participants completed an online health questionnaire including measures of impulsivity, perceived stress, and eating behavior. Negative urgency impulsivity was positively correlated with uncontrolled, emotional, and binge eating while positive urgency impulsivity was positively correlated with uncontrolled eating. I hypothesized that five bivariate associations would be moderated by one or more variables. Nine two-way, between-subjects ANOVAs were conducted using median-splits to test the moderating effects of BMI, perceived stress, and impulsivity on disordered eating. Main effects for BMI level indicated that overweight/obese participants scored higher on emotional eating and uncontrolled eating than normal weight/underweight participants. An interaction between motor impulsivity and perceived stress explained variations in uncontrolled eating while an interaction between total impulsivity and perceived stress explained variations in binge eating. Limitations included a small educated, predominantly female, convenience sample. More men need to be included in future studies.
pdf
Examination of the Interrelationships among Impulsivity, Stress, Disordered Eating, and Obesity494.64 kBDownloadView
Preprint Thesis pdf Open Access

Details

Logo image