G Waller1, M Matoba. 1. Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom.
Abstract
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. CONCLUSIONS: 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. Copyright 1999 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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. CONCLUSIONS: 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. Copyright 1999 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Authors: Anne E Becker; Kristen Fay; Jessica Agnew-Blais; Peter M Guarnaccia; Ruth H Striegel-Moore; Stephen E Gilman Journal: Transcult Psychiatry Date: 2010-11