One of the biggest contributors to negative mood states is stress. Stress can be defined as the types of things that produce negative emotions. There are two different types of stressors. The first are stressful events--major ones such as a job change or unemployment, a divorce, or a medical problem. The other type of stressors are considered daily hassles, which can be defined as repetitive but chronic annoyances of everyday life such as waiting in line, sitting in traffic, or bad weather. Either type of stress can trigger emotions that lead to overeating. As a result, people under long-term stress tend to gain weight over time. This might be related psychologically to learned coping behaviors (eating in response to stress as a way to cope with negative moods) as well as to underlying biological changes.

One thing that varies greatly among emotional eaters is how a person perceives stressful situations and how that individual has learned to respond to stress. One individual may feel major stress from a particular situation, whereas another person will handle it better by using the event as an opportunity to improve himself or herself. In general, those on the lower end of the emotional eating continuum have higher perceived stress thresholds (meaning a situation has to be fairly severe to be perceived as being stressful) and stronger coping mechanisms for dealing with stress. On the other hand, individuals farther along on the spectrum, such as those with eating disorders, tend to perceive even mildly stressful events as being more stressful.

When considering the biological contribution of stress to emotional eating, cortisol, a hormone secreted during stress, is a key player. Cortisol is involved in regulating caloric consumption and has been shown to increase appetite and food intake. Thus, individuals who produce excess cortisol, such as those with binge-eating disorder and clinical depression, might be more susceptible to overeating following stress. Recent studies in rats have led scientists to speculate that the use of comfort foods in humans may be stimulated by elevated cortisol in response to stress, which could also be related to increased obesity.

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