Treating yourself, eating whatever is on the shelf or eating nothing at all: The role of reward sensitivity and the behavioural inhibition system in stress-induced hyperphagia and hypophagia in Dutch university students

Students commonly experience stress and associated eating disturbances, which may lead to health problems and lower well-being. This study aims to investigate the mechanisms behind these eating disturbances, specifically stress-induced hyperphagia and hypophagia. Knowledge about these mechanisms is important as it may further the development of effective interventions to reduce harmful eating disturbances. In this study, questionnaires forstress-induced hyperphagia and hypophagia (Salzburg Stress Eating Scale), perceived stress (PSS-10), reward sensitivity, and behavioural inhibition (BAI) were administered to a sample of 210 Dutch university students in a cross-sectional research design. A regression analysis was performed on a model with as dependent variable stress-induced hyperphagia and hypophagia (SSES) and as dependent variables perceived stress (PSS2), reward sensitivity (BAS-Reward) and behavioural inhibition (BIS2) with the covariates BMI and gender. PSS2 and BIS2 were...Show moreStudents commonly experience stress and associated eating disturbances, which may lead to health problems and lower well-being. This study aims to investigate the mechanisms behind these eating disturbances, specifically stress-induced hyperphagia and hypophagia. Knowledge about these mechanisms is important as it may further the development of effective interventions to reduce harmful eating disturbances. In this study, questionnaires forstress-induced hyperphagia and hypophagia (Salzburg Stress Eating Scale), perceived stress (PSS-10), reward sensitivity, and behavioural inhibition (BAI) were administered to a sample of 210 Dutch university students in a cross-sectional research design. A regression analysis was performed on a model with as dependent variable stress-induced hyperphagia and hypophagia (SSES) and as dependent variables perceived stress (PSS2), reward sensitivity (BAS-Reward) and behavioural inhibition (BIS2) with the covariates BMI and gender. PSS2 and BIS2 were tested quadratically as this was speculated to fit the data best. None of the main predictors, PSS2 (B = 0.000, p = 0.503), BAS-Reward (B = -0.163, p = 0.217) and BIS2 (B = 0.019, p = 0.283), were significantly associated with SSES, only the covariate BMI (B = 0.073, p < 0.001). Thus, none of the dependent variables of the regression model seem to predict stress-induced hyperphagia and hypophagia, next to the covariate BMI. This does not correspond to prior research which does find associations between the independent variables and SSES. However, this research is mostly performed in clinical populations and might not hold true for non-clinical populations. This study has several limitations, including a cross-sectional design and biases associated with self-reports, but also several strengths, such as testing variables quadratically and studying a student population with varying levels of stress. A final suggestion is made to focus on the factors that give healthy students high levels of stress, instead of their stress-induced behaviours.Show less

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Treating yourself, eating whatever is on the shelf or eating nothing at all: The role of reward sensitivity and the behavioural inhibition system in stress-induced hyperphagia and hypophagia in Dutch university students