Unravelling the Ties: How Attachment Styles and Emotion Regulation Fuel Emotional Eating in Youth With Obesity—A Clinical Sample Study
Authors' conclusion
Higher attachment anxiety and avoidance were associated with greater emotional eating, both directly and indirectly through maladaptive emotion regulation strategies.
Study context
- Population
- Children and adolescents (ages 7–19) with obesity
- Participants
- 772 children
- Outcome
- Emotional eating, and mediation of attachment dimensions' effect on it by emotion regulation strategies
Methodological detailsclinical sample, structural equation modelling, mediation analysis, Key variables measured with validated questionnaires
- Clinical sample
- Structural equation modelling
- Mediation analysis
- Key variables measured with validated questionnaires
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Attachment, emotion regulation and emotional eating
- Higher attachment anxiety and avoidance associated with greater emotional eating, directly and indirectly via maladaptive emotion regulation strategies
- Adaptive strategies showed no mediating effects
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
- Attachment anxiety and avoidance increased diversity of emotion regulation strategies, which was associated with higher emotional eating
- Exploratory analyses
Original publication
Unravelling the Ties: How Attachment Styles and Emotion Regulation Fuel Emotional Eating in Youth With Obesity—A Clinical Sample Study. Pediatr Obes. Published 9 February 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →