Academic Journal
Unpacking the eating pathways: The mediating roles of emotional eating and problem-solving skills in the relationship between childhood trauma and eating expectancies.
| Τίτλος: | Unpacking the eating pathways: The mediating roles of emotional eating and problem-solving skills in the relationship between childhood trauma and eating expectancies. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Barcın Güzeldere HK; Faculty of Health Science, Department of Nutrition and Dietetic, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul, Türkiye. Electronic address: haticekubra.guzeldere@medeniyet.edu.tr., Akarsu Ö; Faculty of Health Science, Department of Pediatric Nursing, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul, Turkey., Düzgün K; School of Psychology, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom., Devrim-Lanpir A; Faculty of Health Science, Department of Nutrition and Dietetic, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul, Türkiye. |
| Πηγή: | Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.) [Nutrition] 2026 Oct; Vol. 150, pp. 113265. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 May 14. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 8802712 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-1244 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 08999007 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Nutrition Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Tarrytown, NY : Elsevier Science Original Publication: [Burbank, Calif. : Nutrition, c1987- |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Emotional Eating*/psychology , Feeding Behavior*/psychology , Feeding and Eating Disorders*/psychology , Eating*/psychology , Adverse Childhood Experiences*/psychology , Problem Solving*, Students/psychology ; Humans ; Female ; Male ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult ; Body Mass Index ; Adult ; Adolescent |
| Περίληψη: | Background: Childhood trauma is associated with disordered eating, but the processes linking early adversity to eating expectancies remain insufficiently understood. This study examined whether emotional eating and problem-solving skills mediate the association between childhood trauma and dysfunctional eating expectancies, particularly expectations of losing control over eating. Methods: Participants were 441 university students (82.3% female; mean age 20.5 ± 2.0 y) who completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R21, Eating Expectancy Inventory, and Problem Solving Inventory. Pearson correlations and Hayes' PROCESS mediation analyses were used. Additional sensitivity analyses were conducted adjusting for age, gender, and body mass index (BMI). Results: CTQ scores were positively associated with loss-of-control eating expectancies, emotional eating, uncontrolled eating, and poorer perceived problem-solving skills. In the primary mediation analyses, both emotional eating and poorer perceived problem-solving skills showed significant indirect effects. In sensitivity analyses adjusting for age, gender, and BMI, the indirect effect through emotional eating was attenuated and no longer statistically significant (B = 0.0048, 95% CI [-0.0008, 0.0118]), whereas the indirect effect through poorer perceived problem-solving skills remained significant (B = 0.0035, 95% CI [0.0007, 0.0074]). The direct effect of CTQ on loss-of-control eating expectancies remained significant across models. Conclusion: These findings suggest that poorer perceived problem-solving skills may represent a more robust correlate of the association between childhood trauma and beliefs about losing control over eating, whereas the emotional-eating pathway was less stable after adjustment for age, gender, and BMI. Longitudinal research is needed to determine the temporal ordering of these relationships. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Childhood trauma; Eating expectancies; Emotional eating; Loss of control; Problem- solving skills |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260626 Date Completed: 20260805 Latest Revision: 20260805 |
| Update Code: | 20260806 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.nut.2026.113265 |
| PMID: | 42361725 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1873-1244 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.nut.2026.113265 |