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Survey study, 2013

Do personality traits affect whether hormone changes cause emotional eating?

Hormone changes predict emotional eating, but personality traits like negative urgency and negative emotionality don't explain why some women are more affected.

Moderate study design 239 women

What they did

239 women reported emotional eating every day for 45 consecutive days and provided saliva samples to measure hormones. Personality traits were measured once.

What they found

Changes in the combination of estradiol and progesterone predicted emotional eating. However, negative urgency and negative emotionality did not affect which women experienced this hormone-emotion link.

What it means for you

Hormones drive emotional eating changes during the cycle, but personality alone doesn't explain individual differences. Other factors not measured here may be important.

239

Women studied

45 days

Study duration

hormones

Affected eating patterns

About the study

Original title
Individual differences in the relationship between ovarian hormones and emotional eating across the menstrual cycle: a role for personality?
Authors
Racine SE, Keel PK, Burt SA et al.
Journal
Eating behaviors
Year
2013
Study design
Survey study
Participants
239
What was tested
None - tracked natural hormone and eating patterns
Open access
Yes

Topics