Exploring the Link Between Food Addiction, Sleep Quality, and Stress

This research proposal aims to investigate the relationship between food addiction, sleep quality, and stress, particularly in individuals with normal weight to provide a more generalized examination of food addiction prevalence and its effects on mental health. The study intends to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Yale Food Addiction Scale, examine the metabolic consequences of chronic stress, and explore the associations between obesity and emotional states. The literature review highlights the addictive nature of certain foods, the impact of stress on eating habits and visceral fat accumulation, and the role of glucocorticoids and insulin in modulating food intake. The proposed research will involve a survey of university students to gather data on mental health, sleep habits, food preferences, and dietary information, with the goal of designing specific psychological interventions to address maladaptive eating behaviors. The study acknowledges limitations related to population generalization and subjective interpretation of sleep quality, suggesting avenues for future research.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
Research Proposal
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Research proposal topic: Relationship Between Food Addiction, Sleep Quality, and Stress.
Introduction
Background of the study:
For many people, food is often considered as the addictive substance and is similarly
dangerous to the other substances. Studies have shown that food item that contains a high
amount of salt, sugar and fat create the feeling of satisfaction and pleasure. The people that are
addicted to food derive pleasure from certain food items that make them eat more even if they
are not hungry. As the person who is addicted to the food continues to eat food that makes them
feel good, such people often eat more than the necessity for the normal nutrition. This leads to a
severe social, physical and the emotional consequences. Food addiction is also called as the food
addiction and is considered as a serious mental illness. The eating disorder is mainly seen in the
adults and this research will provide an insight into the same condition (Gearhardt et al., 2012).
Purpose of the study
The main aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between the food
addiction, stress-induced eating, sleep habits. The study will help to design a specific
psychological intervention so that the maladaptive eating behaviour can be clinically addressed.
It is important to note that within the food addiction research, a majority of the studies that are
conducted upon the humans are focused on the obese population or the population that focus on
the people that have the eating disorders. The study will focus upon the normal weight of the
individuals so that a more generalised examination of the prevalence of food addiction and the
effects of the mental health. The results of this research will be utilized by the researchers and
also honours the students that are involved in the project.

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The aim of the study
General aim: Relationship Between Food Addiction, Sleep Quality, and Stress.
Specific aim:
 To evaluate the validity and the reliability of the Yale Food Addiction
Scale and the Yale Food Addiction Scale.
 To find whether the metabolic consequences that are related to the chronic
stress vary with the intensity of stress and the frequency.
 To examine the prospective longitudinal associations between the Obesity
and the obesity within a community sample.
 To examine the complexity of the psychology and the behavioural
interactions between the emotional state, food intake and stress.
Research questions
The proposed research will be aligned with the following research questions will be addressed
throughout the study-
 What are the validity and the reliability of the Yale Food Addiction Scale
and the Yale Food Addiction Scale?
 Whether the metabolic consequences that are related to the chronic stress
vary with the intensity of stress and the frequency?
 What are the prospective longitudinal associations between the Obesity
and the obesity within a community sample?
 What are the complexity of the psychology and the behavioural
interactions between the emotional state, food intake and stress?

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The research hypothesis will be as follows-
The metabolic consequences that are related to the chronic stress will vary with the
intensity or the frequency of the stress.
Literature Review
According to Lemeshow et al. (2016), that the addiction is accepted as a popular culture
in the mainstream media and the addictive behaviour needs investigation. The authors assessed
the modified Yale Food and the Yale Food Addiction Scale. The authors also estimated the
negative predictive value and the sensitivity predictive value of the Modified Yale Food
Addiction Scale through the usage of the Yale Food Addiction scale, which is used as a
benchmark. The results indicate that the negative predictive value was 99.5 percent and the Yale
Food Addiction Scale’s Sensitivity is found to be 92.3 percent. Thus, according to the authors the
Modified Yale Food Addiction Scale is found to be the best substitute for the Yale Food
Addiction Scale. According to the Gearhardt and Brownell (2013), if certain food items are
addictive and this ground reality if ignored, then it is important to note that the policy progress
and the treatment will also be ignored. If the scientific studies are able to identify the food
substances, then there it would be beneficial to support the bold policy approaches that focus on
the food environment. The article published by Tomiyama, Dallman and Epel (2011), revealed
that the chronically stressed rodents are made to eat calorie intensive food and it developed the
greater the mesenteric fat. This showed that the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-
adrenocortical (HPA) axis dampens. The same experiment was applied in to the human models
and it was found that eating the food that contained dense calories resulted in to greater visceral
fat accumulation. This, in turn, modulates the HPA axis which results in lower cortisol levels.
According to Dallman (2003), a study was conducted which showed that glucocorticoids act

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rapidly through the membrane receptors that are present on the corticotropin-releasing factor
(CRF). This initiates the CRF synthesising cells to release the endocannabinoids. The
endocannabinoids act on the presynaptic axons locally through the cannabinoids receptors and
this reduces the glutamatergic input. The same kind of findings in the neurons reveal that the
glucocorticoids are common in brain and can be a part that explains the rapid glucocorticoid on
the intake of food. While it is being said by Dallman et al. (2007), that glucocorticoids primarily
act on the brain in order to activate the central nervous system pathways and thus implement the
wanting that are appropriate to the psychological needs. Elevated levels of glucocorticoids
augment the behaviour of feed. It has been found that glucocorticoids stimulate the intake of the
sucrose, fat and chow, the insulin affects the desire towards the food containing high fat.
According to Thompson et al. (2015), chronic stress in the humans affects the food intake and it
was reported that the individuals showed to increase and decrease the food intake during stress.
The results of the study revealed that the chronic intermittent mild stress has a modest effect on
the metabolic pathway and occur during the stress exposure at the initial period. This satisfies the
hypothesis that the metabolic consequences are related to the chronic stress will vary with the
intensity or the frequency of the stress. According to Perkonigg (2009), the obesity in the
females arise due to the PTSD syndrome. However, there were no positive association to be
found between the obesity and the mental disorder. According to Ulrich-Lai et al. (2015), a study
conducted showed that the long-term and excessive intake of dietary lipids and their withdrawal
has resulted in stress-related outcomes in mice. The other findings suggest that the behavioural
and psychological interaction that link to the emotional state, food intake and stress has led to the
probing the impact of the environmental, genetic and metabolic factors. According to Dallman
(2010), emotional brain networks and stress foster the eating behaviours that finally lead to

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obesity. Stress is found to release glucocorticoids that increase the tendency to eat food and also
releases insulin. This in turn promotes obesity and food intake. According to Greer, Goldstein
and Walker (2013), sleep deprivation has a significant impact on the appetite. During the food
desirability choices sleep deprivation affects the insular cortex and the frontal cortex.
Research design
The research will be based on the studying the obese population that are exhibiting the
eating disorder. The study will also include the individuals that have the normal body weight so
that the study can be compared with the tendencies of food addiction and the mental health.
The rationale for the study:
Around the age of 18 years, the young adults often engage in the improper eating habits
due to food addiction and stress. Thus, a study needs to carry out so that the ground scenario can
be brought forward.
Study design:
Participants that are involved in the study is needed to complete a 15-minute survey. The
survey will contain the information that is based on the status of mental health, sleep habits,
attachment to certain food items, dietary information and demographic details. The participants
will be given a questionnaire and they will be including only the university students
(postgraduate or undergraduate). The initial questionnaire will take 15 seconds and this will
serve as a screening questionnaire for meeting the requirements of the participants. No extra
costs are associated with the research project.

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The individual research study will only include the senior supervisor and a principal researcher.
A total of 300 participants will be required for the study with an equal number of the females and
males. Participants may come from the different universities in Australia.
The research project will be conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the National
Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007). The research that includes the human
participants will be reviewed but Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).
Limitations of the study:
The main limitation of the study is that it cannot be generalized to other population.
Study generalizations are limited as the participants are confined to one particular population and
no mentioning of men and women proportion in the sample population. The study included
participants only from the Australian Universities and is only restricted to a particular age group
either the undergraduate or postgraduate students. As the study design was qualitative in nature,
interpretation of quality of sleep is subjective and may not act as a good indicator of
understanding the sleep quality. This provides scope for future research as perceptions about
sleep quality may shed light on relationships between food addictions, stress and sleep quality.
Therefore, study in exploratory manner can help in guiding directions for future research.
Conclusion
From the above study, it can be concluded that there is a positive relationship between the
stress, sleep quality and food addiction. The levels of stress actually elevate the levels of
glucocorticoids and this, in turn, increases the tendency to eat more food even beyond the
necessity. Food items containing high amount of sugar and fats are also found to be addictive, as
consuming these food items perpetuates a continuous urge even not hungry. As a result, gorging

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on these food items can induce pleasure, overindulged and eat beyond. This suggests that
metabolic consequences are related to chronic stress that increases its frequency and intensity
with food. As a result, stress releases glucocorticoids that increases urge to eat in turn releasing
insulin, in turn experience uneasiness, and face sleeping problems. Therefore, it can be
concluded that unnecessary food intake causes eating disorder that in turn increases the risk for
obesity and predispose individuals to ill health conditions.

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References
Dallman, M. F. (2003). Fast glucocorticoid feedback favors ‘the munchies’. Trends in
Endocrinology & Metabolism, 14(9), 394-396. Doi:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2003.09.005
Dallman, M. F. (2010). Stress-induced obesity and the emotional nervous system. Trends in
Endocrinology & Metabolism, 21(3), 159-165. Doi:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2009.10.004
Dallman, M. F., Warne, J. P., Foster, M. T., & Pecoraro, N. C. (2007). Glucocorticoids and
insulin both modulate caloric intake through actions on the brain. The Journal of
physiology, 583(2), 431-436. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2007.136051
Gearhardt, A. N., & Brownell, K. D. (2013). Can food and addiction change the
game?. Biological psychiatry, 73(9), 802-803. Doi:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.07.024
Gearhardt, A. N., White, M. A., Masheb, R. M., Morgan, P. T., Crosby, R. D., & Grilo, C. M.
(2012). An examination of the food addiction construct in obese patients with binge
eating disorder. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 45(5), 657-663. Doi:
https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.20957
Greer, S. M., Goldstein, A. N., & Walker, M. P. (2013). The impact of sleep deprivation on food
desire in the human brain. Nature communications, 4, ncomms3259. DOI:
10.1038/ncomms3259

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Lemeshow, A. R., Gearhardt, A. N., Genkinger, J. M., & Corbin, W. R. (2016). Assessing the
psychometric properties of two food addiction scales. Eating behaviors, 23, 110-114.
Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2016.08.005
Perkonigg, A., Owashi, T., Stein, M. B., Kirschbaum, C., & Wittchen, H. U. (2009).
Posttraumatic stress disorder and obesity. American journal of preventive
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Thompson, A. K., Fourman, S., Packard, A. E., Egan, A. E., Ryan, K. K., & Ulrich-Lai, Y. M.
(2015). Metabolic consequences of chronic intermittent mild stress exposure. Physiology
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Tomiyama, A. J., Dallman, M. F., & Epel, E. S. (2011). Comfort food is comforting to those
most stressed: evidence of the chronic stress response network in high stress
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