Emotional Eating and Trauma

Emotional eating is a topic that has been researched for a number of years yet there remains some debate regarding its definition and conceptualisation within the literature. Often associated with negative emotional states, emotional eating can have long-term physical and mental health implications for those who engage in this behaviour. Despite not being a clinically diagnosable eating disorder, emotional eating shares some characteristics with other eating disorders. This thesis explored emotional eating both through a systematic review of the literature and from the perspective of those with lived experiences of this presentation. Specifically, the thesis reports on a systematic review on the available literature including 16 relevant studies that explored the link between emotional eating and trauma. Findings of the review indicate that there is a link between these constructs. However, this review also highlights methodological flaws of the included studies and adds to the findings that emotional eating does not appear to have a concrete, operationalised definition within the literature. This thesis also reports on an empirical study that qualitatively explored the lived experiences of adults who engage in emotional eating (n = 14). Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methods, participants discussed their unique experiences of emotional eating with six Group Experiential Themes (GETS) identified within the data. Findings indicated the pervasive, complex nature of emotional eating as a presentation as participants discussed the physical and psychological consequences of emotional eating. While this thesis provided some insight into emotional eating from individual’s perspectives, future research is needed to translate the findings across all genders and age groups. In addition, future research is needed to explore emotional eating from healthcare professionals’ perspectives so as to develop meaningful, targeted supports and intervention methods.