Testing a Novel Stress-induced Eating Intervention for Cancer Prevention

Subjects will be enrolled in a stress-induced eating intervention with 5, 7, or 9 treatments or control. Treatment will comprise imagining a stressful event, engaging in a stress relief activity (Progressive Muscle Relaxation), and consuming a fruit once per day. There will be one lab visit at baseline in which participants undergo an acute laboratory stressor (i.e., speech and math tasks) and consume food from a buffet. There will be another lab visit at two weeks post-intervention. In the second (and final) lab visit, participants will repeat the acute laboratory stressor (i.e., speech and math tasks) and buffet, and additionally complete questionnaires about their experience in the study.

Sex

All

Minimum age

18 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

* age 18 or older
* fluent in English
* access to an internet-connected device
* reporting a neutral taste and moderate novelty for at least one fruit
* reporting household size-adjusted income less than or equal to 200% of the federal poverty threshold
* perceived stress scale score of 21.82 (1 SD above the national mean)
* BMI 25
* scoring 3.23 on the Dutch Eating Behavior-Emotional Eating Questionnaire

Exclusion Criteria:

* on a diet that would compel them to refrain from eating food in the laboratory buffet
* allergy to any foods presented in the buffet
* selecting a fruit as one or more of top three choices of foods that would make them feel better if stressed