Annotated Bibliography

Student   1  

Student Sample Dr. Heather Martin WRIT 1133- 28 April 28, 2017

Dessert is Stressed Spelled Backward: An Analysis of Stress Severity and its Relation to Stress Eating in the DU Community

This selection of documents is intended to provide adequate background information and

data on the subject of stress related eating patterns and the extent to its effects based upon the level of severity and duration. All of the sources cited below are of credible nature and are based upon scientific reason and research. They have all either referenced studies or have conducted experiments themselves on the topic of stress-induced food intake. Due to the collection of findings that support both increases and decreases in the usual intake of food, many of the sources focus on more detailed correlations between the relationship of appetite and stress. For example, the relationship between stress and changes in eating behaviors is widely accepted; however, recent studies examine the resulting changes and differences between acute stress, chronic stress, and various stress sub-groups (emotional, social, physical, and etc.) and the choices in the type of foods consumed when under these various forms of stress. There is great concern for obesity as a consequence of stress eating; however, obesity is covered in this bibliography. The purpose of these materials is to serve as a foundation for a survey of the effects and/or perceived of effects of stress eating in the University of Denver student community, looking for similarities and/or differences in the data between them. For the sake of both time and length, obesity will not be included a prominent factor of the discussion but will be noted as a highly acknowledged concern for long term stress eating.

Adam, Tanja C., and Elissa S. Epel. “Stress, Eating and The Reward System.” Physiology &

Behavior, vol. 91, no. 4, 2007, pp. 449–458. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.04.011. Adam and Epel’s article provides insight into the detailed physiological, anatomical, and physiobiological processes that results in eating behaviors before, after, and during stress. It forces on the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis’s role in the body’s response to stress, noting the chemical response and how they interact with the brain and nervous system. It also emphasizes the possibility of the two types of stress response one being the stereotypical fight or flight model where decreased eating is expected and the other being a challenge model where control is demanded of the situation and increased eating is observed. It also highlights the effects of voluntary restrained eating, in addition to food intake in relation to the brain’s reward system when looking at the presence of cortisol and the ways in which it might make an organism food reward dependent as a result of stress. Overall, this paper offers a very in depth insight into the chemical components behind food intake patterns witnessed during times of perceived stress. The information gathered in this paper will be most useful during the analysis portion of my research. Given the timeline and recourses, it will not be possible to personally explore the biological and chemical workings behind the responses from the survey I will conduct (on DU students), however, this article provides multiple explanations to the various responses to stress I will be looking at such as the challenge vs flight or fight model and the levels of cortisol associated with those responses.

Student   2  

Cartwright, Martin, et al. “Stress and Dietary Practices in Adolescents.” Health Psychology, vol.

22, no. 4, 2003, pp. 362–369. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.22.4.362. This short, peer-reviewed source was the product of a 5-year longitudinal study, consisting of nearly 5,000 children (mean age of 11-12). Their goal was to find a connection between stress and unhealthy eating patterns rather than a simple increase in food consumption. The study’s main form of data collection was through a survey. The survey asked the children to rate their consumption of foods (approximately thirty-four food items including fruits and vegetables) and meals (how often they snacked and had breakfast) on a five-point Likert scale. The study showed that the girls reported feeling more stressed than the boys, but also reported eating less in almost all of the categories (fatty food intake, snack frequency, breakfast frequency, and etc.). Overall, the main contribution this paper has, in terms of my own research and writing, would be the ways in which they surveyed and the positive results of their surveying format, given that I too will be conducting a survey and am looking for the best angle to frame the questions. It additionally offers credible data to compare to both the results of my survey and other studies since it has the largest subject pool, in addition to a new age group of participants (most of the other participants in related studies are of adult age, some nearing the older adult age category). Rutters, F., et al. “Acute Stress-Related Changes in Eating the in Absence of Hunger.” Appetite,

vol. 51, no. 2, 2008, p. 396. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2008.04.205. Rutters’s study focuses on the genetic influence on related sensitivity in the context of the consumption of food after the absence of hunger (as stated in the title). This paper defined the act of excessive energy intake as one’s susceptibility to obesity as a result of the interplay of genetics, behavior, and environmental factors, stress being one of the environmental factors prevalent in Western society. The experiment conducted by the authors, looks the BcII gene and the FTO gene, which are polymorphisms commonly associated with eating despite the individual’s lack of hunger. The subjects were asked to solve mental arithmetic problems that were either possible to solve (control) or impossible (acute stress) and then given 30 minutes to enjoy complete access to snacks. To see if the acute stress inflicted any changes, mood state (POM) and anxiety states (STAI state) were measured. The results showed that certain genotypes in the BcII gene correlated with increased eating behavior when presented with snacks after a stress induced situation.

Overall, this paper adds an interesting and unique perspective to the topic of eating under stress since the majority of studies available have been conducted on mice with the context of external environmental factors (such as mild stressors like tail pinching). A genetic outlook on this topic presents another internal and biological facet to consider in the relationship of stress and eating. Such information will be useful when analyzing the results from the survey and data from other sources since it is, yet another field of unattainable data (from an in-person standpoint). Sulkowski, M.l., et al. “Corrigendum to ‘Effects of Stress and Coping on Binge Eating in Female

College Students’ [Eat. Behav. 12 (2011) 188–191].” Eating Behaviors, vol. 14, no. 3, 2013, p. 410. doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2013.03.001.

Student   3  

This paper’s focus was on the relationship between stress, coping mechanisms, and binge eating in female college students ages 18 to 25. Although, binge eating is not specifically the focus of my research nor my policy brief, it is of relation in both definition and behavior. This study looked at 147 female undergraduates and examined the correlations between different coping mechanisms related to excessive eating when under psychological stress. Their data showed that women who had binge eating habits also perceived stress with more intensity than those who did not have the habits. Additionally, those who used emotional based and avoidant coping strategies were paired with a positive trend of stress and binge eating whereas those who used rational base coping mechanisms produced no correlation. Overall, this paper offers a new factor as the main relation to the eating behavior: coping mechanisms. Rather than simple a stress resulting in an eating behavior model, this study suggests a stress to specific coping methods to resulting eating behavior model. Although, it this perspective might not be the centerpiece of my argument, it’s input falls into a sub category of stress eating and, additionally, offers coping mechanisms identification, which could aid in the solution portion of the policy brief. Torres, Susan J., and Caryl A. Nowson. “Relationship Between Stress, Eating Behavior, and

Obesity.” Nutrition, vol. 23, no. 11-12, 2007, pp. 887–894. doi:10.1016/j.nut.2007.08.008.

Torres and Nowson’s academic article provides many useful correlations written in easy to understand language, seen both in animals and in humans, between stress and eating patterns. The paper highlights the influence of the severity of stress (acute and/or chronic) and its resulting effect seen as decreased or increased eating behavior and how the response to stress interacts with an organism’s physiological processes, namely how the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis influences appetite regulation. This paper also provides many clear definitions for eating under stress, different types of stress (physical, chemical, physiological, emotional, and etc.), and the different levels of stressor (serve, mild, and etc.) used in experiments. In the context of weight gain that could lead to obesity, this paper also notes the desire for heavy nutrient foods, mainly sweet foods when the response to stress is eating, but also notes the general lack of knowledge on the subject of stress and eating behavior due to the limitations of work that can be conducted in a lab. The data that is available supports the board conclusion that stress does influence food intake and hints at the possibility of there being gender specific responses to the received stress.

Overall, this paper stands as the centerpiece of understanding for this topic. It offers easily comprehensible coverage of all of the points made in relation to the topic of stress eating and points supported in other papers. Many of the other sources act as supporting research in more specialized fields on the topic. This paper’s understandable language will also be useful when translating the information into the policy brief and survey questions.

Tryon, M.s., et al. “Having Your Cake and Eating It Too: A Habit of Comfort Food May Link Chronic Social Stress Exposure and Acute Stress-Induced Cortisol Hyporesponsiveness.” Physiology & Behavior, vol. 114-115, 2013, pp. 32–37. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2013.02.018.

The aptly named scholarly article, “Having Your Cake and Eating It Too” focuses on the effects

Student   4  

of acute stress on food intake, noting the larger amount of research available on chronic stress. The experiments preformed in the study mainly focused on the cortisol levels in saliva samples taken from pre-menopausal women at various times before and after stress induced situations. They collected saliva samples at various times before the lab sessions. They also collected samples before and after being put through stressful situations called the Trier Social Stress Test, TSST, (i.e. being given 5 minutes to prepare a speech to be presented in front of a panel of judges) and during the control where they participated in a visit task (i.e. watching a nature video). Afterward they were given 30 minutes to lounge and have free range of a buffet stocked with low fat, savory, and sweet snacks. Those with self-reported high chronic stress and low cortisol reactivity consumed significantly more calories from sources such as chocolate cake compared to their self-reported low chronic stress and high cortisol reactivity counterparts.

Overall, this paper serves are a reliable source as it contains its own research on acute stress (which has fewer available sources to pull from) and references other articles mentioned in this biography. This source will provide additional literary support when analyzing my own data and when offering context in the policy brief. The use of a buffet (with multiple food options) during their experiments mirrors the environment that the dining halls offers to DU students and will add another layer of constructive support for my augment.