Table 1.
Studies describing associations between stress and eating in African-American samples, organized by domain of stress assessed.
| Authors (Year) | Participants (% female) | Stress Measure | Eating Measure | Findings: Effect of Stress on Eating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perceived stress | ||||
| Austin et al., 2009 [48]a | 25 Children and adolescents (60%) | Perceived stress (PSS) | Healthy eating (self-report) | Mixed. Increase in stress → decrease in healthy eating across time, for girls only; stress ≠ healthy eating cross-sectionally |
| Carson et al., 2015 [47]b | 355 Adults (100%) | Perceived stress (PSS) | Meeting recommended dietary intake (24-hr recalls) | NS. Stress ≠ meeting eating recommendations |
| Diggins et al., 2015 [40]b | 99 Young adults (100%) | Perceived stress (PSS) | EE (self-report) | POSITIVE. Stress → EE |
| Horton et al., 2018 [46]b | 251 Young adult college students (78%) | Perceived stress (PSS) | Dietary fat intake (self-report) | MIXED. Stress ≠ fat intake; if highly religious, stress → fat intake |
| Johnson et al., 2012 [41]b | 350 Adults, mostly obese (100%) | Perceived stress1 | EE (self-report) | POSITIVE. Stress → EE |
| Longmire-Avital & McQueen, 2019 [42]b | 149 Young adult college students (100%) | Perceived stress (PSS) | EE (self-report) | POSITIVE. Stress → EE |
| Pickett & McCoy, 2018 [43]b | 191 Premenopausal adults (100%) | Perceived stress (PSS) | Eating behavior (multiple domains, self-report) | POSITIVE. Stress → less low-fat foods and more: snacking on sweets, haphazard planning, meal skipping, EE |
| Sims et al., 2008 [44]b | 159 Adults (52%) | Perceived stress (PSS) | Eating behavior (multiple domains, self-report) | MIXED. Stress → EE; greater association for highly obese participants; ≠ low-fat foods, snacking on sweets |
| Sims et al., 2017 [45]b | 5,301 Adults (63%) | Perceived stress (GPSS) | Percent calories from fat (self-report) | POSITIVE. Stress → fat intake |
| Occurrence of stressful events | ||||
| Klassen et al., 2009 [49]b | 156 Adults in public housing, at baseline of a dietary intervention (100%) | Stressful life events in past year2 | Healthy eating (24-hr recall) | POSITIVE. Stressful events → less heathy eating |
| Sims et al., 2017 [45]b | 5,301 Adults (63%) | Minor events in past week (WSI-event); major events in past year (MLE) | Percent calories from fat (self-report) | MIXED. Minor events → fat intake; major events ≠ fat intake |
| Zenk et al., 2014 [50]c | 100 Adults (100%) | Daily hassles (DHC); EMA assessment of stressful event occurrence3 and social stressor occurrence4 | Snack food consumption (EMA) | MIXED. Individual (high stress relative to own mean value): Daily hassles → concurrent food consumption; stressful events, social events ≠ food consumption Group (high stress relative to others): Daily hassles, stressful events → lagged and concurrent food consumption; social events ≠ food consumption |
| Combined: Occurrence and perceived stressfulness of events | ||||
| Austin et al., 2009 [48]a | 25 Children and adolescents (60%) | Combined occurrence and perceived stressfulness of daily hassles | Healthy eating (self-report) | NS. Hassles ≠ healthy eating |
| Harrington et al., 2010 [51]b | 179 Adult trauma survivors (100%) | Combined occurrence and perceived stressfulness of traumatic events (LSC-R; SES) | Binge eating; eating for psychological reasons (self-reports) | MIXED. Trauma ≠ either eating measure; trauma → binge eating through other psychosocial mediators (e.g. emotion regulation) |
| Sims et al., 2017 [45]b | 5,301 Adults (63%) | Combined occurrence and perceived stressfulness of minor life events in past week (WSI-impact) | Percent calories from fat (self-report) | NS. Stress ≠ fat intake |
| Discrimination-related stress | ||||
| Coleman et al., 2019 [52]b | 118 Adolescent-father dyads (0%) | Frequency of discrimination experiences (EDS) | EE (self-report) | POSITIVE. Discrimination → EE |
| Diggins et al., 2015 [40]b | 99 Young adults (100%) | Contextualized stress related to race and gender (JHP) | EE (self-report) | NS. Contextualized stress ≠ EE |
| Hayman et al., 2015 [55]d | 124 Young adult college students (100%) | Experimentally manipulated social exclusion (CB) by NHW or AA confederate | Snack food consumption (observed) | MIXED. Excluded (rather than included) by NHW confederate → chip consumption; excluded (rather than included) by AA confederate ≠ chip consumption; NS for chocolate consumption |
| Hoggard et al., 2019 [53]b | 150 Young adult college students (59%) | Frequency of race-related hassles (DLE) | EE (by type; self-report) | MIXED. Discrimination → angry and depressed EE; discrimination ≠ anxious EE |
| Johnson et al., 2012 [41]b | 350 Adults, mostly obese (100%) | Occurrence of race-related discrimination (PDQ) | EE (self-report) | POSITIVE. Discrimination → EE |
| Longmire-Avital & McQueen, 2019 [42]b | 149 Young adult college students (100%) | Combined occurrence and perceived stressfulness of racism-related events (IRRS) | EE (self-report) | POSITIVE. Discrimination → EE; (holds when adjusting for perceived stress) |
| Sims et al., 2016 [54]b | 4,452 Adults (63%) | Frequency of everyday discrimination; occurrence of lifetime discrimination; perceived stressfulness of lifetime discrimination (JHSDIS) | Percent calories from fat (self-report) | MIXED. Lifetime discrimination → fat intake; everyday discrimination → fat intake for women only; stressfulness of discrimination ≠ fat intake |
Note: EE = emotional eating; EMA = Ecological Momentary Assessment; POSITIVE = association between stress and eating; NS= no association between stress and eating; MIXED = mixed support for associations between stress and eating; ≠ = not significantly associated with; → = associated with; NHW = Non-Hispanic White.
Longitudinal self-report (2 measures, 1 month apart) methodology.
Cross-sectional self-report methodology.
Seven-day ecological momentary assessment methodology (EMA), with EMA measured five times per day and stress-eating associations tested at both concurrent measurement points and lagged measurement points (time N stress predicting time N+1 eating).
Experimental, observational methodology, with participants randomly assigned to in-group inclusion (included by AA confederate), in-group exclusion (excluded by AA confederate), out-group inclusion (included by NHW confederate) and out-group exclusion (excluded by NHW confederate) conditions, and food consumption directly observed.
Stress Measures: PSS = Perceived Stress Scale; GPSS = Global Perceived Stress Scale; WSI-event = Weekly Stress Inventory (number of stressful events endorsed in past week); MLE = Major Life Events, index of past year; DHC = Daily Hassles Checklist; LSC-R = Life Stressors Checklist–Revised; SES = sexual experiences survey; WSI-impact = Weekly Stress Inventory (subjective stressfulness of events endorsed in past week); EDS = Everyday Discrimination Scale; JHP = The Jackson Hogue Phillips Contextualized Stress Measure; CB = Cyberball; DLE = Daily Life Experiences Scale, a subscale of the Racism and Life Experience scale; PDQ = Perceived Discrimination Questionnaire; IRRS = Index of Race Related Stress; JHSDIS = Jackson Heart Study Discrimination Instrument.
Unnamed, single-item measure of global perception of stressfulness of life on 1–10 scale.
Unnamed, list of whether 11 stressors (e.g., loss of job, arrest, death of loved one) occurred in last year.
Unnamed, single item ecological momentary assessment measure, “Have you experienced a stressful event since your last entry?”
Unnamed, single item ecological momentary assessment measure, “Have you experienced a stressful or problematic social interaction since your last entry?”