Relationship between eating patterns and coping with stress

Emocionalno i nekontrolirano jedenje te suzdržavanje od hrane koncepti su koji imaju dugu povijest istraživanja, kao i stilovi suočavanja sa stresom. Odnos ovih varijabli je, međutim, još uvijek nedovoljno istražen. S obzirom na ograničen broj dosadašnjih istraživanja provedenih većinom na ženama, kao i na neistraženost odnosa suočavanja usmjerenog na problem i navedenih obrazaca hranjenja, cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati odnos emocionalnog jedenja, nekontroliranog jedenja te suzdržavanja od hrane i različitih stilova suočavanja- usmjerenog na problem, usmjerenog na emocije te distrakcije, za oba spola. Nadalje, ispitivane su spolne razlike u navedenim obrascima hranjenja i stilovima suočavanja sa stresom. Istraživanje je provedeno on-line putem na 72 ispitanika i 202 ispitanice u dobi od 19-34 godine. Za ispitivanje obrazaca hranjenja korišten je Upitnik obrazaca hranjenja (The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire) (Cappelleri i sur., 2009), koji je za potrebe ovog istraživanja preveden na hrvatski jezik, a za ispitivanje stilova suočavanja sa stresom Upitnik suočavanja sa stresnim situacijama (Sorić i Proroković, 2002), hrvatska adaptacija upitnika Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) (Endler i Parker, 1994). Prema rezultatima, žene više koriste suočavanje usmjereno na emocije, distrakciju i socijalnu diverziju. Što se tiče obrazaca hranjenja, spolne razlike u korist žena postoje kod emocionalnog jedenja i suzdržavanja od hrane. Rezultati su pokazali da postoji pozitivna povezanost između emocionalnog jedenja i suočavanja usmjerenog na emocije te distrakcije, kao i pozitivna povezanost između nekontroliranog jedenja te ovih dvaju stilova suočavanja, kod oba spola. Nadalje, utvrđena je negativna povezanost između suočavanja usmjerenog na problem i emocionalnog jedenja kod oba spola te suočavanja usmjerenog na problem i nekontroliranog jedenja, ali samo kod žena. Utvrđena je pozitivna povezanost suzdržavanja od hrane i suočavanja usmjerenog na problem, također samo kod žena.Emotional eating, uncontrolled eating and cognitive restraint are concepts with a long history of research, as well as styles of coping with stress. However, the relation between these variables remains unclear. Considering the small number of studies that have been conducted mainly on females, as well as insufficiently investigated relation between problem-focused coping and eating patterns, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional eating, uncontrolled eating and cognitive restraint and different coping styles- problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping and distraction, for both genders. Furthermore, gender differences in these domains were examined. The study was conducted online on 72 male and 202 female participants whose age ranged from 19-34. Eating patterns were assessed using The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (Cappelleri et al., 2009), which was translated into Croatian. Coping styles were measured using the Croatian adaptation of the Coping inventory for Stressful Situations – CISS questionnaire (Endler & Parker, 1994). According to results, females are using emotion-focused coping, distraction and social diversion more than males. When it comes to eating patterns, a significant gender difference was observed with females using emotional eating and cognitive restraint more frequently than males. The results have shown that there is a positive correlation between emotional eating and both emotion-focused coping and distraction, as well as a positive correlation between uncontrolled eating and these two coping styles among males and females. Furthermore, a negative correlation between problem-focused coping and emotional eating was found in both males and females, as well as a negative correlation between problem-focused coping and uncontrolled eating, but only in females. A positive correlation between cognitive restraint and problem-focused coping was obtained, but only in females