Life is uncertain, eat dessert first: Uncertainty causes controlled and unemotional eaters to consume more sweets

Healthy eating behaviors and self-control in scarcity: The protective effects of self-compassion

Maintaining healthy eating habits requires self-control and this process can become unsuccessful in certain stressful situations (e.g., economic scarcity). This study tested whether self-compassion can buffer the negative impacts of economic scarcity on healthy eating behaviors and self-control. In the correlational Study 1 (n = 304) based on self-reports, a mediating effect of self-control between economic scarcity and healthy eating behaviors was found in females but not males, and that self-compassion moderated the direct relationship between economic scarcity and healthy eating behaviors in females. No significant moderated mediation effect was found. In Study 2, female participants (n = 113) completed economic scarcity (ES) (or abundance) and self-compassion (SC) (or writing-control (WC)) manipulations and a food-selection task. The ES + WC group chose more high-calorie food than the economic abundance (EA) + WC group and the ES + SC group, and the EA + SC group also selected more high-calorie food compared with the EA + WC group and the ES + SC group. In Study 3 (n = 136), similar manipulations and a dot-mixed task were used to measure self-control, and the ES + SC group showed higher accuracy than the ES + audio-control (AC) group at a trend level. These findings support the protective role of self-compassion in healthy eating behaviors and self-control impairments resulted from economic scarcity, which offer promise for promoting healthy lifestyles among individuals living in scarcity.

Three Mediating Pathways of Anxiety and Security in the Relationship between Coping Style and Disordered Eating Behaviors among Chinese Female College Students

Background

According to previous studies, eating disorders and disordered eating behaviors are associated with coping style, anxiety, and sense of security. However, the specific mechanism between them has not been elucidated. The purpose of this study was to explore whether anxiety and sense of security play mediating roles in coping style and disordered eating behaviors among Chinese female college students.

Method

Six hundred and ninety-one female college students (mean age = 19.36; SD = 1.06) completed the Simple Coping Style Questionnaire, the Eating Disorder Inventory, the Security Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and a brief demographic survey. The percentage bootstrap method of deviation correction was conducted to determine the mediating effect of anxiety and sense of security on coping style and disordered eating behaviors.

Results

Coping style had direct and indirect effects on disordered eating behaviors. Anxiety and sense of security were not only independent mediators in the relationship between coping style and disordered eating behaviors but also chain mediators.

Conclusions

The results of the current study provide preliminary evidence that preventive interventions targeting anxiety and sense of security may be feasible for young women who develop disordered eating behaviors due to stress in their lives.

What You Don't Know Can Hurt You: Uncertainty Impairs Executive Function

Three studies demonstrated that situational uncertainty impairs executive function on subsequent unrelated tasks. Participants were randomly assigned to either uncertain situations (not knowing whether they would have to give a speech later, Studies 1-2; uncertain about how to complete a task, Study 3) or control conditions. Uncertainty caused poor performance on tasks requiring executive function that were unrelated to the uncertainty manipulation. Uncertainty impaired performance even more than certainty of negative outcomes (might vs. definitely will have to make a speech). A meta-analysis of the experimental studies in this package found that the effect is small and reliable. One potential explanation for this effect of uncertainty on executive function is that uncertainty is a cue for conserving effort.