Emotional eating and eating psychopathology in nonclinical groups: A cross-cultural comparison of women in Japan and the United Kingdom

✍ Scribed by Waller, Glenn ;Matoba, Miki

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 124 KB
• Volume: 26
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0276-3478
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-108x(199911)26:3<333::aid-eat11>3.0.co;2-d

✦ Synopsis

Objective: Emotional eating is associated with eating psychopathology among Western populations. It is not known whether the same conclusions hold in non-Western cultures, where norms for emotional expression differ. This study examined whether emotional eating has the same eating psychopathology correlates in different cultures. Method: Three groups of nonclinical women were compared-Japanese living in Japan; Japanese living in the United Kingdom; and British living in the United Kingdom. They completed an Emotional Eating Scale and the Eating Disorders Inventory. Results: There were different patterns of association between emotional eating and eating attitudes in the three groups. British women showed a strong linkage, Japanese women living in Japan showed no association, and Japanese women in the United Kingdom showed an intermediate pattern. Con- clusions: Emotional eating may be less of an index of eating psychopathology in non-Western cultures. However, there appears to be an acculturative process, linking the two when one enters a Western culture. This cross-cultural difference may have implications for the targeting of therapies, although this conclusion requires support from further research.