earticle

영어

The present study aimed to confirm the mediating effect of emotional regulation and cognitive distortions on the relationship between female adolescents’ parental attachment and emotional eating. The data were collected from 272 middle and high school students, and were analyzed through structural equation modeling. The main research findings were as follow: First, greater secure attachment was associated with greater emotional regulation, less cognitive distortion about weight and eating and less emotional eating. In addition, greater emotional regulation was related to less emotional eating, while greater cognitive distortion about weight and eating was associated with greater emotional eating. Second, secure parental attachment did not necessarily led to less emotional eating. Rather, secure attachment led to female adolescents’ greater emotional regulation ability, which in turn predicted less emotional eating. Third, the more secure parental attachment was, the less cognitive distortion about weight and eating was reported. Moreover, fewer cognitive distortions was related to less emotional eating. In summary, emotional regulation and cognitive distortions mediated the relationship between parental attachment and emotional eating. The result of the present study suggested that parental attachment by itself is not a significant predictor for emotional eating, but that emotional regulation and cognitive distortions are linkage between them. The significance and limitations of the present study and directions for future research are also discussed.