Cited by 52Eating Disorders and BehaviorsNutrition, Health and Food BehaviorMindfulness and Compassion Interventions

Mindfulness in Eating Is Inversely Related to Binge Eating and Mood Disturbances in University Students in Health-Related Disciplines

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Giannopoulou, Ifigeneia, Kotopoulea-Nikolaidi, Maria, Daskou, Sofia, Martyn, Kathy, Patel, Ashani·2020·Nutrients

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between mindful eating, disordered eating and mood in university students in health-related disciplines. A total of 221 university students participated in the study; 102 students studied sport and exercise science (SS), 54 students pharmacy sciences (PS), and 65 students health sciences (HS). Participants completed the Binge Eating Scale (BES), the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ), and the Profile of Mood State questionnaire (POMS). 41% of the students were classified as binge eaters and 57% were above the POMS threshold of depression. Binge eaters were found to have significantly lower MEQ score and significantly higher total mood disturbance scores (TMD) compared to non-binge eaters (p < 0.01). Students with a high depression score exhibited no differences in the MEQ score but a significantly higher BES score compared to non-depressed students (p < 0.01). Gender differences were found in the MEQ with females exhibiting significantly higher scores in the MEQ score and in all MEQ subscales compared to males, with the exception of the emotional subscale that females were noted to have a lower score compared to males (p < 0.01). The MEQ score was inversely related to the BES score (r = −0.30, p < 0.01) and TMD (r = −0.21, p < 0.05). The MEQ score was a significant negative predictor of the variance of the binge eating behavior of the students (B = −3.17, p < 0.001). In conclusion, mindfulness in eating is inversely related to the binge eating behavior and mood state of university students studying health-related subjects and is a significant negative predictor of disordered eating behavior in this high risk population.

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  • Study findings exploring the relationship between mindful eating and eating disorder risk are limited.

    “In these studies, eating disorder risk is negatively associated with mindfulness, but study findings exploring the relationship between mindful eating and eating disorder risk are limited [33, 34, 36].”

    From Four Facet Mindful Eating and Eating Disorder Risk: Mediation By Depression and Body Mass Index. (2026) · cites this paper as [34]

    The Introduction and Discussion say that evidence on the relationship between mindful eating and disordered eating is limited in university students and young adults. The citing sentence does not retain that population qualifier, so the source does not establish that findings on eating disorder risk are limited generally. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • Earlier studies found that mindful eating was associated with lower eating disorder risk in non-clinical samples.

    “This is in accordance with earlier studies in which mindful eating was associated with lower eating disorder risk in non-clinical samples [33, 34].”
  • Prior studies have reported a negative association between eating disorder risk and mindfulness or mindful eating.

    “In these studies, eating disorder risk is negatively associated with mindfulness, but study findings exploring the relationship between mindful eating and eating disorder risk are limited [33, 34, 36].”

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2 of the 49 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

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  1. Killion, L., Rodriguez, A., Rawlins, S., Miguez, A., and Soledad, K. (2003). Relation between Body Image Satisfaction and Body Mass Index in a College Population (Psychology). Res. Q. Exerc. Sport, 74, Available online: https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1–99492761/relation-between-body-image-satisfaction-and-body.

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Authors
Giannopoulou, I., Kotopoulea-Nikolaidi, M., Daskou, S., Martyn, K., & Patel, A.
Affiliations
  • Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Physiology and Nutrition Sciences University of Brighton, Hillbrow, Denton Road, Eastbourne BN20 7SR, UK
  • Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow CM20 1QX, UK
  • Nottingham Trent University (GB)
  • University of Brighton (GB)
Venue
Nutrients
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2020-02-02
Volume
12
Issue
2
Pages
396
ISSN
2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3004137823
Cited by
52
References
49
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2
FWCI
1.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (acceptedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • University of Brighton Repository (University of Brighton) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
Keywords
mindful eating, binge eating, disordered eating, mood disturbance, depression, university students, health sciences students, gender differences, emotional eating, dietary habits
MeSH terms
Adult, Bulimia, Career Choice, Depression, Eating, Feeding Behavior, Female, Humans, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Students, Universities, Young Adult, Binge-Eating Disorder, Mindfulness

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