Parental Rejection as a Predictor of Emotional Eating After Inpatient Weight Loss Treatment for Youngsters

Abstract Objective The main objective of the study was to examine the relationships between parental rejection, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and the emotional eating style of youngsters who finished an inpatient multidisciplinary weight loss treatment program and were back in their home environment. Method Participants were 52 youngsters (age 11–17 years) with an average percent over ideal BMI of 186.11% (SD = 27.54) before treatment and 136.37% (SD = 19.65) at a mean follow-up of 4 months. Participants completed questionnaires assessing maternal and paternal rejection, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and emotional eating. Data were analysed using bootstrapping procedure. Results Mediation analyses showed that maladaptive emotion regulation partially mediated the association between maternal rejection and the youngsters’ emotional eating style. Paternal rejection was directly related to emotional eating. Conclusion The results suggest that the family climate may have an impact on the eating style of the youngsters after weight loss treatment.