Divisional Approval Granted: _________________________________ (Chair of Divisional Ethics Committee) Date: School Approval Granted: Date (Chair of School Ethics Committee)
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Research Background
Trait EI is a constellation of emotional self-perception located at the lower levels of personality hierarches (Petrides et al. 2007b). In the trait EI model, emotion-related self perceptions have been repeatedly shown to form four interrelated factors: well being (traits pertaining to dispositional mood), self-control (traits pertaining to the regulation of emotions and impulses), emotionality (traits pertaining to the perception and expression of emotions) and sociability (traits pertaining to the interpersonal utilization and management of emotions; Mikolajczak, Luminet, Leroy, & Roy, 2007; Petrides, Pita, & Kokkinaki, 2007).
Emotional dysfunction, stress and coping are some of the most important contributing and maintaining factors in Binge Eating/Emotional or Compulsive Eating Disorder (DSM IV). Studies by Pinaquay, Chabrol, Simon, Louvet & Barbe (2003) assert that emotional / overeating, eating behaviors can be attributed as a coping response to negative emotions among obese people. Anxiety, mood and low self-esteem have all been suggested as significant risk factors for body dissatisfaction and eating disturbance (Fairburn, Cooper, & Shafran, 2003). Recent work by Hayaki, Friedeman, & Brownell (2002) suggests that negative body image may be altered through improvement in emotional expression and regulation, thus implicating that poor emotional expression and regulation is associated the negative body image.
Stunkard’s pessimistic verdict (1958) in the treatment of obesity is still very relevant. He asserts that most obese people will not continue their treatment for obesity, most of those who do will not lose weight and most of those who lose weight will regain it. The status quo still endures due to the lack of ‘fit’ between treatments and the individual. For example, there are different types of overeating: emotional, external and restraint eating and each type has its own aetiology (Cooper & Fairburn, 2003), and amongst the obese population there exist two recognised subtypes: ‘obesity with binge eating disorders (BED) and ‘obesity without BED’.
Aims
Current literature is unclear when considering the role of emotional dispositions in all three types of overeating in these groups (Whiteside, Chen, Neighbors, Hunter, Lo & Larimer, 2007), furthermore few studies have attempted to examine the relationships between emotion, mood coping and over-eating.. The current study attempts to address
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this gap in the literature, firstly by examining the associations between trait EI and non- binge eating, and binge eating in the obese population. The second aim is to examine the mediating role of both coping style and depression.
Methodology: Design:
Participants form two groups: Group 1 will be a clinical group (CG) comprising of 100 BED obese people and Group 2 a (N-CG) 100 non BED obese people. Each participant will complete all standardised/validated measures. The entire study will be conducted online.
Participants:
The NC-G will be recruited from the local ‘weight watchers club’ / ‘slimming world’, and also from obesity support networking websites. Leaflets containing the website address will be circulated among them. The clinical group will be recruited from the eating disorder charity ‘BEAT’ (previously named the Eating Disorder Association). Participants will not be recruited from my client base. The rationale for including both a clinical group (obese people who also binge eat) and a non-clinical group (obese people) is because we wish to examine the psychological factors that distinguish obese people who binge eat from obese people who do not binge eat. Materials:
Demographics questionnaires will be used to assess inclusion and exclusion of the participants in both groups. Eligibility criteria will include an age range from 18 to 60 years with a body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m2 and upwards. The clinical group will fulfil the diagnostic criteria set out by ‘Eating and Weight Patterns Revised (Spitzer et al. 1993)’ in accordance with DSM IV criteria. Computers, SPSS package, calculators, and other relevant software will be available to this study.
Measures:
1. Eating and Weight Patterns Revised (Spitzer et al. 1993). Screening questionnaire.
2. TEIQue v. 1.50 (Petrides, 2009)
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4. The Coping Styles Questionnaire (Roger, Jarvis, & Najarian, 1993) 5. PHQ-9 – Depression scale. (Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, 1999)
Above scales have high proven internal consistencies. (Prior permission to use above measures will be sought from each author and commercial licences will be obtained where appropriate).
Procedures:
All participants will complete a screening questionnaire and all measures. There is no time limit set, however 45 minutes will be sufficient to complete the task. The research website will collect all data and will be open for the period of six months or will close when the targeted participant numbers are met. All data collected from the online questionnaires will be analysed using relevant software i.e. Excel and SPSS. Participants will receive full debriefing and all information will be stored in a secure setting for a period of four years and then destroyed.
Proposed Data Analysis:
Group comparisons will be made using ANOVA. Relationships between variables will be assessed using multiple linear regression.
Ethical Consideration
The study will be carried out on line with the ethical guidelines of the British Psychological Society (BPS 2006) and in addition the BPS’s ethical guidelines on internet mediated research (BPS 2007). Ethical approval will be sought from BEAT’s ethics committee (and those of other charities used), and from the University of Wolverhampton.
Online questionnaires were considered to be more appropriate method to collect data within this clients group. Online experience will offer a safe environment i.e. home, where they can engage without the pressure of the researcher in a face-to-face interview. Obese clients often find mobility an issue therefore online experience hopes to address this concern to some extent. A degree of anonymity is necessary as a considerable amount of shame could be elicited through face-to-face interview adding significant distress. Freedom to stop or withdraw from the research at anytime offers participants more control in the process. Participants are sign posted to national charity websites should they feel distress during or after data collection for support and advice.
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Participants will be given information sheets, outlining the purposes of the study, confidentiality issues and ability to withdraw from the study. Email contact will be offered to all participants. All data published will be anonymised.
Appendices: 1. Participants information sheet - 1 2. Consent form - 2 3. Organisation letters - 3 References: American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1994. British Psychological Society (2006). Code of ethics and conduct. Leicester: British Psychological Society. British Psychological Society (2007). Internet Medicated Research. Leicester: British Psychological Society. British Psychological Society (2011). Professional Practice Board in Obesity. Leicester: British Psychological Society. Cooper Z, Fairburn CG. A new cognitive behavioural approach to the treatment of obesity. Behav Res Ther. 2001;39: 499 –511. Fairburn, C G., Cooper, Z., & Shafran, R. (2003). Cognitive behavior therapy for eating disorders: A ‘transdiagnostic’ theory and treatment . Behavioral Research and Therapy, 41, 509-528. Hayaki, J., Friedman, M. A., & Brownell, K. D. (2002). Emotional expression and body dissatisfaction. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 31, 57-62 Mikolajczak, M., Luminet, O., Leoroy, C., & Roy, E., (2007). Psychometric properties of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire: Factor structure, reliability, construct, and incremental validity in a French speaking population. Journal of Personality Assessment, 88, 338-353. Petrides, K. V., Pita, R., & Kokkinaki, F. (2007). The location of trait emotional intelligence in personality factor space. British Journal of Psychology, 98, 273-289.
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Petrides, K. V. (2009). Technical manual for the trait emotional intelligence questionnaires (TEIQue). London: London Psychometric Laboratory.
Pinaquay, S., Chabrol, H., Simon, C., Louvet, J. & Barbe, P. (2003). Emotional eating, alexithymia and binge-eating disorder in obese women. Obesity Research, 11(2), 195- 201. Roger, D., Jarvis, G., & Najarian, B. (1993). Detachment and coping: The construction and validation of a new scale for measuring coping strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 15, 619–626. Stunkard AJ. The management of obesity. N Y State J Med. 1958;58:79-87. Spitzer R, Yanovski S, Wadden T, et al. Binge eating disorder: Nature, Assessment and Treatment. New York: Guildford; 1993:173-205 Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, for the Patient Health Questionnaire Primary Care Study Group. Validation and utility of a self-report version of PRIME-MD: the PHQ Primary Care Study. JAMA 1999;282:1737-1744. Van Strien, T., Rookus, M. A., Bergers, G. P. A., Frijters, J. E. R., & Defares, P. B. (1986). Life events, emotional eating and change in body mass index. International Journal of Obesity, 10, 29–37. Whiteside, U., Chen, E. Y., Neighbors, C., Hunter, D., Lo, T., & Larimer, M. E. (2007). Binge eating and emotion regulation: Do binge eaters have fewer skills to modulate and tolerate negative affect? Eating Behaviors, 8, 162-169.
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Appendix - 1
Participants information sheet
An investigation of Emotional Intelligence in Binge Eating Disorder among Obese population
You are being invited to take part in a research study. Before you decide to take part it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take a moment to read the following information carefully and discuss it with your friends and relatives if you wish. Ask us if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information. Take time to decide whether or not you wish to take part. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Part 1 tells you about the purpose of this study and what will happen to you if you