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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03744780

A One-Day ACT Workshop for Emotional Eating

Emotional eating is a behaviour that has been linked to weight concerns, mental health concerns, and disordered eating. Effective interventions have been developed to treat emotional eating, however these exist solely in the context of promoting weight loss. Emotional eating is not exclusive to those who struggle with weight and thus interventions are needed that target those who engage in emotional eating regardless of their weight status. The present study aims to do so through the implementation of a one day Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) workshop for emotional eaters.

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Key information

Conditions

Emotional Eating Behavior Behavior, Animal Eating Behavior Feeding Behavior

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

McGill University

Montreal, Quebec, H3A1G1, Canada

About this study

Emotional eating is defined as increased food consumption in response to negative emotions, and has been linked to weight concerns, mental health concerns, and disordered eating behaviours. Effective interventions have been developed that address emotional eating, namely to improve weight loss. Such interventions are based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which encourages tolerance of internal cues, such as emotions, and external cues, such as food.

Emotional eating, however, is not exclusive to those who struggle with their weight. Many individuals maintain a normal weight despite engaging in emotional eating. These individuals still consume an excess of high calorie (for which they somehow eventually compensate), high fat, and high sugar foods as part of their emotional eating. Unhealthy dietary habits such as these have been shown to be associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality, as well as health concerns including diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Individuals with normal weight are not eligible for ACT programs described above, despite the increased risk of health concerns associated with emotional eating.

The present study aims to test the feasibility and acceptability of a one-day ACT workshop to reduce emotional eating and improve health that is not focused on weight loss as its primary outcome, and rather targets all individuals who engage in emotional eating.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Engaging in emotional eating as per a DEBQ-EE score of 3.25 or higher
  • Being over the age of 18

Exclusion criteria

  • Not meeting the DEBQ-EE 3.25 or higher inclusion criteria
  • Being under the age of 18

Treatment and study plan

ACT Workshop for Emotional Eating

Behavioral

This is a one-day intervention using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) technique to target and reduce emotional eating. The intervention will be modeled after Frayn and Knäuper's (2016) brief emotional eating intervention, which was derived from Forman et al.'s (2013) "Mind Your Health program". During the workshop, the following topics will be discussed, based on the three processes of ACT: (1) values clarification/commitment, (2) acceptance/distress tolerance, and (3) mindfulness/awareness.

Primary outcomes

  1. Emotional Eating - 2-weeks Post-intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    Emotional eating, as assessed by the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire Emotional Eating Subscale (DEBQ-EE). Participants are asked to rate the frequency with which they engage in particular eating behaviours, on a 5-point Likert-type rating scale from never (1) to very often (5), with higher scores reflecting higher emotional eating. Only the emotional eating subscale of the DEBQ will be assessed and is calculated by averaging the 13 items that assess emotional eating.

  2. Emotional Eating - 3-months Post-Intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    Emotional eating, as assessed by the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire Emotional Eating Subscale (DEBQ-EE). Participants are asked to rate the frequency with which they engage in particular eating behaviours, on a 5-point Likert-type rating scale from never (1) to very often (5), with higher scores reflecting higher emotional eating. Only the emotional eating subscale of the DEBQ will be assessed and is calculated by averaging the 13 items that assess emotional eating.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Distress Tolerance - 2-weeks Post-Intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    Distress tolerance, as assessed by the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS). Participants are asked to indicate the extent to which they agree with statements aimed at assessing distress tolerance, absorption, appraisal, and regulation from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree), with lower scores reflecting lower distress tolerance. Subscale scores are derived by calculating the means of the items that make up each subscale. Total score is calculating by averaging the four subscales.

  2. Distress Tolerance - 3-months Post-Intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    Distress tolerance, as assessed by the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS). Participants are asked to indicate the extent to which they agree with statements aimed at assessing distress tolerance, absorption, appraisal, and regulation from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree), with lower scores reflecting lower distress tolerance. Subscale scores are derived by calculating the means of the items that make up each subscale. Total score is calculating by averaging the four subscales.

  3. Food Craving Acceptance and Action - 2-weeks Post-intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    Food craving acceptance and action, as assessed by the Food Craving Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (FAAQ). Items are rated on a 6-point Likert-type rating scale from 1 (very seldom true) to 6 (always true), with higher scores reflecting higher acceptance. Total score is derived by summing all items. Minimum score is 10 and maximum score is 60.

  4. Food Craving Acceptance and Action - 3-months Post-intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    Food craving acceptance and action, as assessed by the Food Craving Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (FAAQ). Items are rated on a 6-point Likert-type rating scale from 1 (very seldom true) to 6 (always true), with higher scores reflecting higher acceptance. Total score is derived by summing all items. Minimum score is 10 and maximum score is 60.

  5. Mindful Eating - 2-weeks Post-intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    Mindful eating, as assessed by the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ). It is a 28-item self-report measure that assesses five domains of mindful eating: disinhibition, external cues, awareness, emotional response and distraction. Participants are asked to indicate the extent to which extent they agree with each item from 1 ("never" / "rarely") to 4 ("usually"/ "always"), with higher scores reflecting higher levels of mindful eating. Total score is derived by taking the mean of the five subscales.

  6. Mindful Eating - 3-months Post-intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    Mindful eating, as assessed by the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ). It is a 28-item self-report measure that assesses five domains of mindful eating: disinhibition, external cues, awareness, emotional response and distraction. Participants are asked to indicate the extent to which extent they agree with each item from 1 ("never" / "rarely") to 4 ("usually"/ "always"), with higher scores reflecting higher levels of mindful eating. Total score is derived by taking the mean of the five subscales.

  7. ACT Values Application - 2-weeks Post-intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    Application of ACT values techniques taught during the workshop, as assessed by items developed by the study's authors. Participants were asked to rate the extent to which they agreed with a number of value-based statements on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Values score was derived by taking the mean of the items, with higher scores reflecting greater value-consistent eating behaviors.

  8. ACT Values Application - 3-months Post-intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    Application of ACT values techniques taught during the workshop, as assessed by items developed by the study's authors. Participants were asked to rate the extent to which they agreed with a number of value-based statements on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Values score was derived by taking the mean of the items, with higher scores reflecting greater value-consistent eating behaviors.

  9. Emotional Eating Frequency - 2-weeks Post-intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    As assessed by a self-report item developed by the study's authors. Participants were asked to report the number of times they engaged in emotional eating in the past week.

  10. Emotional Eating Frequency - 3-months Post-intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    As assessed by a self-report item developed by the study's authors. Participants were asked to report the number of times they engaged in emotional eating in the past week.

  11. Ability to Stop Emotional Eating - 2-weeks Post-intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    As assessed by a single self-report item developed by the study's authors. Participants were asked to report the number of instances in which they began to engage in emotional eating and were able to stop themselves, on a scale from 1 (none of the time) to 5 (very often).

  12. Ability to Stop Emotional Eating - 3-months Post-intervention

    Time frame: Assessed from baseline to 2-weeks post-intervention and 3-months post-intervention

    As assessed by a single self-report item developed by the study's authors. Participants were asked to report the number of instances in which they began to engage in emotional eating and were able to stop themselves, on a scale from 1 (none of the time) to 5 (very often).

  13. Feasibility Data: Recruitment, Eligibility, Attendance, and Attrition Rates

    Time frame: Assessed throughout the duration of the study from the recruitment period to the completion of the workshops and follow-up questionnaires (i.e., over a 3-month period).

    These include recruitment, eligibility, attendance, and attrition rates

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

McGill University

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2019
Study completion
2019
First posted
Nov 16, 2018
Registry last updated
Nov 14, 2019

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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