Abstract
Objective: Obesity is a prevalent public health concern, with greater attention needed to understand motivational processes that may guide health behaviors associated with obesity-related behaviors, including maladaptive eating. Distress tolerance is a key vulnerability factor in maladaptive eating, including overeating. However, more research is needed to understand motives for eating as well as the role of distress tolerance within this context. Participants: Participants included 161 adults (61.5% female, Mage = 31.4 years, SD = 10.47) who attended a baseline appointment for a larger randomized-controlled trial for an anxiety sensitivity reduction intervention for weight-related behaviors. Methods: The current study examined the role of distress tolerance in relation to emotional, external, and restrained eating motives for eating using three separate two-step hierarchical regression analyses. Results: Results suggested that lower distress tolerance was associated with greater emotional and external motives for eating. Distress tolerance was not significantly related to restrained eating. Conclusions: The present findings suggest the potential clinical utility of distress tolerance in terms of understanding the motivational basis of eating among individuals with obesity.
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Recommended Citation
Halstead, Natasha D.; Zvolensky, Michael J.; and Redmond, Brooke Y.
(2025)
"Motives for Eating Among Individuals Seeking Treatment for Weight-Related Behaviors: The Role of Distress Tolerance,"
Health Behavior Research:
Vol. 8:
No.
3.
https://doi.org/10.4148/2572-1836.1297

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