Food cravings: What psychosocial interventions have been used to reduce them and what is the effectiveness of an adapted eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) protocol at reducing the intensity of craving-related mental imagery and cravings?

Abstract

Food cravings are common and research has shown that they are a precipitant to binge-eating episodes, which can be linked to obesity. Current clinical guidelines recommend behavioural interventions for binge-eating disorder and obesity, which may not address the underlying craving experience that drives the eating behaviour. A systematic review and synthesis of 24 empirical studies examining psychosocial interventions for food cravings was conducted. The results showed that a variety of interventions from a range of theoretical orientations have been used, and that psychosocial interventions can be helpful in reducing food cravings. However, more research is needed to establish which intervention type is the most beneficial.

The second paper details an empirical project, which was conducted to examine the
effectiveness of an adapted eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) protocol in reducing food cravings and craving related mental imagery. Participants were allocated to 3 conditions: bilateral eye movements; working memory task; and mental imagery only; and took part in a weekly group intervention for 4 weeks. Overall, participants in all conditions reported a reduction in trait craving and there was no difference between the conditions. There was no clear pattern of change in state craving, although it was associated with reduction in feeling state, image-specific craving, vividness and pleasantness. This empirical project adds to a small existing research base and future researchers may wish to replicate the project with a larger sample.

This thesis highlights the psychological aspects of food cravings and demonstrates that
psychological interventions can be effective at reducing them

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Identifiers

ORCID for Catherine Brignell: orcid.org/0000-0001-7768-6272

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