Effects of Obesity on the Relationship Between Eating Behaviours and Cognitive Emotion Regulation in Chinese College Students: A Network Analysis

ABSTRACT Background Maladaptive eating behaviours and cognitive emotion regulation strategies are prevalent in obese populations, both of which have complex aetiologies and interact with each other. This study aimed to examine the interaction between eating behaviours and cognitive emotion regulation strategies, conceptualising symptoms as variables that can directly interact with each other, and explore differences between obese and non‐obese populations. Methods 742 obese and 810 non‐obese students were recruited from a university in northern China. Network analysis was used to characterise the network of eating behaviours and cognitive emotion regulation strategies of obese and non‐obese students and then compared two network structures' differences. Results The network structures of obese and non‐obese students differed in terms of the global strength of connections between network symptoms. In the network structure of obese students, the highest key bridge symptom was “catastrophizing”, and the association between “catastrophizing” and “hunger” was the primary bridging edge, which were different from the network structure of non‐obese students. Conclusions Our results suggest that in the obese population, more attention should be paid to certain maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies such as catastrophizing, which provides new perspectives for preventing or intervening in abnormal eating behaviours (e.g., binge eating) or eating disorders in the obese population.