Context matters: Self-regulation of healthy eating at different eating occasions

Self-Regulation of Eating Behaviors Among Young Women Nurses and Nursing Students: Its Relationship With Eating Habits

The primary aim of this study is to adapt the Self-Regulation of Eating Behavior Questionnaire (SREBQ) to the Turkish culture among young women nurses and nursing students. The secondary aim is to investigate the factors associated with self-regulation of eating behavior in this population. The sample consisted of 773 young women nurses and nursing students who were included in the study between June and July 2024. In accordance with the first aim of the study, the construct validity of the SREBQ instrument was confirmed through EFA. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the SREBQ was found to be 0.78. There were very low positive correlations between the SREBQ score and the SRS (r = 0.252) and TREQ-CR (r = 0.136) scores, as well as low negative correlations with the TREQ-EE (r = -0.355) and TREQ-UE (r = -0.406) scores (p < 0.001). The 5-item SREBQ has been found to be a valid and reliable instrument for the population of young women nurses and nursing students in the Turkish language. The results indicate that as self-regulation of eating behavior increases in this population, overall self-regulation skills improve, while disordered eating behaviors decrease.

The relationship between night eating behavior, gastrointestinal symptoms, and psychological well-being: insights from a cross-sectional study in Türkiye

BACKGROUND

This cross-sectional study aimed to address the gap in understanding how night eating behavior impacts gastrointestinal health and psychological well-being in adult populations.

METHOD

This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 1372 adults aged 19-65 between September 2023 and November 2023. The research data were collected with the help of a web-based survey form (Google form) created by the researchers using the snowball sampling method. The demographic characteristics (sex, age, education level, marital status, income status), eating behaviors (number of main meals and snacks), and anthropometric measurements (body weight and height). Gastrointestinal symptoms observed in individuals were evaluated with the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale. The Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ) was used to quantify the severity of night eating syndrome, and The Psychological Well-Being Scale was used to measure psychological well-being. All analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 27.0) software.

RESULTS

A statistically significant negative correlation was found between the Psychological Well-Being Scale total score and Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale subdimensions (r=-0.067, r=-0.067, r=-0.109, r=-0.068, r=-0.129, respectively). Also, a statistically significant negative correlation was found between the Psychological Well-Being Scale total score and the Night Eating Questionnaire total score (r=-0.287) (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

This study found a relationship between night eating syndrome, psychological well-being, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Nutritional strategies for night eating syndrome, an eating disorder, may have important consequences on the psychological well-being of individuals with night eating. Our study highlights the significant relationships between night eating behavior, gastrointestinal symptoms, and psychological well-being, suggesting that night eating may contribute to both physical and mental health challenges.

Do people rely more on habits when sleepy? An ecological momentary assessment study

When self-regulatory resources are depleted, people tend to act more on "autopilot", with minimal forethought. It follows that when sleepy, people should be more likely to act habitually, based on learned cue-behaviour associations that trigger behaviour automatically when the cue is encountered. This ecological momentary assessment study investigated whether, over the course of a week, between-person differences and momentary within-person variation in daytime sleepiness were associated with the reported habit strength of behaviours. Participants (N = 105, 71% female, M age = 35 years) completed a baseline assessment of sleep quality and, six times daily over 7 days, momentary assessments in which they reported the habit strength of the behaviour they were doing when prompted and their momentary sleepiness. Multilevel modelling revealed that people who were more sleepy than others were not more or less likely to act habitually, but on occasions when people were more sleepy than was typical for them, the behaviour they were engaging in tended to be more habitual (Pseudo-R2 = 2%). Our results suggest that sleepiness causes people to rely on non-reflective processes such as habit to regulate their behaviour. Interventions should promote habit formation for desirable behaviours so that when people are sleepy, they can rely on the efficiency of habits to ensure they continue to enact wanted behaviours. Conversely, interventions promoting behaviours that require deliberative thought might encourage performance during times of day when people are more alert.

The Impact of Both Individual and Contextual Factors on the Acceptance of Personalized Dietary Advice

(1) Background: The aim of the current study is to investigate which between- and within-person factors influence the acceptance of personalized dietary advice. (2) Methods: A repeated measurements design was used in which 343 participants (M (SD) age = 48 (17.3), 49% female) filled out a baseline survey and started with nine repeated surveys. (3) Results: The results show that the acceptance of personalized dietary advice is influenced by both within-person and between-person factors. The acceptance is higher at lunch compared to breakfast and dinner, higher at home than out of home, higher at moments when individuals have a high intention to eat healthily, find weight control an important food choice motive and have a high healthy-eating self-efficacy. Moreover, the acceptance is higher when individuals do not see the eating context as a barrier and when individuals believe that personalized dietary advice has more benefits than risks. (4) Conclusions: Future behavioral interventions that use personalized dietary advice should consider the context as well as individual differences.