Lived Experiences of Food-Related Emotional Expectancies Across Socioeconomic Groups in Adults with Overweight/Obesity: A Co-Produced Mixed-Methods Study

Emotional eating is associated with overweight/obesity and lower socioeconomic status. Food-related emotional expectancies—the anticipated emotional outcomes of consuming different foods—are theorised to be some of the potential drivers of emotional eating, and to be amenable to modification. However, the study of food-related emotional expectancies in relation to overweight/obesity and socioeconomic status is limited, with no qualitative research. This co-produced, mixed-methods study investigated lived experiences of food-related emotional expectancies in a sample of individuals with overweight/obesity differing in socioeconomic status. Twelve participants (age 41.42±16.24 years) engaged in semi-structured interviews, completed the Anticipated Effects of Food Scale, and reported sociodemographic information. Nutrition information was obtained for foods mentioned in free responses, and categorising foods based on the nutrient profiling model indicated that foods high in fat, sugar, and salt were frequently implicated in accounts of positive and negative expectancies. Deductive thematic analysis generated five themes: (1) food as friend and foe; (2) social influences on the formation of food-related emotional expectancies; (3) changes in food-related emotional expectancies after stressful life events; (4) childhood and adulthood body image impacts on food-related emotional expectancies; and (5) food-related emotional expectancies as an inner battle. Participants with low socioeconomic status ( n =7) provided accounts of negative experiences in childhood that contributed to their food-related emotional expectancies. On the Anticipated Effects of Food Scale, there was a trend for participants with lower versus higher socioeconomic status to report stronger positive and negative expectancies. Changing food-related emotional expectancies may reduce emotional eating and socioeconomic disparities in overweight/obesity.