EFFECTIVENESS OF EMOTION REGULATION INTERVENTION ON EATING DISORDER BELIEFS, ALEXITHYMIA AND WEIGHT LOSS IN OVERWEIGHT WOMENEmotion Regulation, Eating Disorder Beliefs, Alexithymia, overweight

The prevalence of obesity is a threat to health worldwide, with many variables increasing, including eating disorder beliefs and Alexithymia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Teaching Emotion Regulation on the eating disorder beliefs, Alexithymia and weight loss in overweight women.

The quasi-experimental research design is pre-test-post-test with a control group and follow-up stage. The statistical population included overweight women referring to nutrition clinics in Urmia in 1398. Among them, a sample of 30 people was selected by voluntary sampling method and randomly alternated in two groups of 15 people. For the experimental group, Emotion Regulation intervention based on Gross Model was provided, while the control group did not receive any training. The research instruments included body mass index (BMI), Torento Alexithymia Scale and Eating Disorders Beliefs Questionnaire (EDBQ). After the training course, evaluations related to experimental and control groups were performed again in the post-test phase with a follow-up interval of 3 month. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data.

The results showed that emotion regulation intervention was effective on weight loss, eating disorder beliefs and Alexithymia in overweight women (P <0.005) and the results were stable during the follow-up period (P <0.005).

According to the obtained results, Teaching Emotion Regulation can be used for weight loss, eating disorder beliefs and Alexithymia.