Emotion and eating in obesity? A critical analysis.

Psychosomatic theories hold that the obese abnormally increase eating in response to emotional distress. Empirical support for this assertion has come mainly from self-report studies. A review of the literature for methodological rigor reveals that many studies previously considered supportive are substantially flawed with regard to control groups, failure to control Type-I error rate, and the possibility of confounding of social desirability and other response sets with self-reports of emotional eating. Five alternative conceptualization of the obesity-emotional eating association are presented along with suggested research which would elucidate the nature of this frequently reported connection.