ArticleJournal of clinical psychology in medical settings2025
Eating to Feel Better: The Role of Comfort Eating in Chronic Pain.
Article in Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Adiposity trajectory as a predictor of chronic and multisite pain in the transition from childhood to adolescence: A prospective study of a large birth cohort.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2026Article
- "I'm afraid to eat a piece of toast": The Lived Experience of Balancing Eating and Health Behaviors in Adults with Chronic Pain.Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings · 2026Article
- Exploring Emotional Eating and Emotion Dysregulation in Fibromyalgia Patients: Implications for Disease Management.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Research has identified that individuals with chronic pain comfort eat in response to their pain, however, little is known about the function that comfort eating serves for chronic pain patients. Given the synergistic relationship between higher body weight and chronic pain, it is important to further understand the role and impact of eating behaviours, such as comfort eating, for individuals with chronic pain. This study aimed to investigate the perceived function of pain-induced comfort eating for chronic pain sufferers. Adult participants (N = 141) with chronic pain were recruited through online advertisements. Participants completed self-report questions on an online survey platform. Over two-thirds of the sample identified with engaging in comfort eating in response to chronic pain flare-ups. Results revealed that the most endorsed function of pain-induced comfort eating was 'to have a pleasant experience' (51.8%), followed by 'distraction' (49.6%) and 'to reduce emotions' (39%). This study provides further evidence that comfort eating is common amongst individuals with chronic pain and sheds light on the perceived function of comfort eating for those who are managing chronic pain. Given the potential impact on outcomes for chronic pain patients, future studies should further investigate the relationship between comfort eating and chronic pain.
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Registered trials
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