Stress mindset predicts psychophysiological responses to stress and eating behaviors and moderates the stress-eating relationship in women

Individuals tend to shift their preferences towards comfort foods following acute stressors, but do not ubiquitously increase the amount of food consumed. Many individuals overeat in response to stressors, yet others decrease or do not change their food intake. Individual differences in factors related to stress and eating, such as stress mindset (i.e., perceptions regarding the nature of stress), may explain this variability in stress-eating. To investigate, we conducted the present pre-registered study, where we investigated whether stress mindset, 1) predicted psychophysiological stress responses, 2) predicted snack intake post-stress, and 3) moderated the stress-eating relationship. Participants were 86 women (34 % non-White) between 18 and 22 years old, with a mean body mass index of 24 kg/m^2, who completed two visits. Participants completed an assessment of stress mindset during a preliminary screening and, on a subsequent laboratory visit, underwent a stress mindset manipulation followed by an acute social stress task (i.e., TSST) and a snack food taste test. Greater stress-is-enhancing mindsets during screening predicted more adaptive stress responses (greater ratio of sympathetic markers to cortisol levels) and healthier post-stress eating behaviors. Furthermore, the moderation model (PROCESS model 1) was significant: greater post-stress negative affect was associated with more M&M intake only for women with greater stress-is-debilitating mindsets at screening, and greater heart rate was associated with less chip and veggie straw intake only for women with greater stress-is-enhancing mindsets at screening. Thus, stronger stress-is-enhancing mindsets may reduce the impact of psychophysiological stress responses on snack food intake for women. Replications in larger and more diverse samples may elucidate the mechanisms underlying the moderation and inform eating- and obesity-related treatments targeting stress mindset.