A systematic review of the relationship between alexithymia and emotional eating in adults.

Elucidating psychological characteristics associated with emotional eating may further inform interventions for this behaviour related to eating psychopathology. The present systematic review aimed to examine the relationship between alexithymia and self-reported emotional eating in adults, and provide a narrative synthesis of the existing literature. Using the PRISMA method for systematic reviews, six databases (MEDLINE, PsycInfo, PsycArticles, PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web of Science) were searched for peer-reviewed, quantitative research published between January 1994 and 20^th July 2021, when the searches were conducted. Eligible articles investigated the association between alexithymia, as measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and emotional eating, as measured by any validated self-report instrument. Nine cross-sectional articles were reviewed, and risk of bias was assessed using the Appraisal Tool for Cross-Sectional Studies. A narrative synthesis of articles suggests positive associations between alexithymia and self-reported emotional eating. Five measures of emotional eating were used across articles, with limited but...