| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 106279 |
| Journal | Appetite |
| Volume | 180 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published (VoR) - 7 Sept 2022 |
Funding
Reported results from articles using the EES were mixed in their support for the association between variables. Significant relationships were found between alexithymia (total TAS-20, DIF, DDF) and emotional eating across general population and student samples, with the exception of DDF in the student sample (Pink et al., 2019). Other findings did not identify a clear relationship between alexithymia (total nor subscale scores) and emotional eating, but did report possible indirect effects of DIF and DDF on emotional eating through emotion dysregulation (McAtamney et al., 2021).The present review included only quantitative research using the TAS-20 which is considered the gold-standard of alexithymia self-report measurement. Whilst issues have been discussed in relation to its validity and reliability, particularly the measurement of the EOT and IMP features of alexithymia (Kooiman, Spinhoven, & Trijsburg, 2002), a recent meta-analysis demonstrated support for the three-factor structure originally proposed by Bagby et al., in 1994 (Schroeders, Kubera, & Gnambs, 2021). Despite recommendations to use the TAS-20 alongside other self-reported and observer-rated measures (Bagby et al., 2020; Kooiman et al., 2002), this is not commonly used and was not exhibited by any of the studies included in this review.
Keywords
- Alexithymia
- Emotion processing
- Eating behavior
- Emotional eating
- Systematic review