Emotional Openness in Overweight and Normal-Weight Adolescents

Abstract

Obesity is common among adolescents and is associated with a number of medical complications. As maladaptive emotional processing is assumed to influence obesity, this research investigated emotional openness (EO), a general model of emotional processing, in normal-weight versus overweight adolescents, with consideration of gender differences. The goal was to determine whether a particular EO profile is characteristic of overweight adolescents. This research also explored the psychometric characteristics of the Dimensions of Openness to Emotions Questionnaire (DOE-20), a comprehensive multifactorial instrument that assesses emotional processing. The DOE-20 and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) short form were completed by 160 adolescents (mean age: 14.36 ± 0.61 years), 39 of which were overweight. A multivariate analysis of variance showed no difference with respect to overweight status, but boys had a better ability to recognize and regulate emotions than girls. The original five-factor s...