Abstract

The use of music for discharge (for releasing anger or sadness through music that expresses these same emotions) is a commonly used strategy for people who engage in emotional eating (EE; eating to cope with stress). It is unknown, however, if this is a good alternative to EE. Emotional and avoidance coping strategies have been found in past research to relate to worse mental health, but are also likely associated with both EE and discharge when coping with stress. Therefore, it was predicted that the links between stress and EE, stress and the usage of music for discharging emotion, and EE and using music for discharge, would be at least partially mediated by these coping styles. The results of self-reported, cross-sectional, data from 570 adults indicated that the relationship between EE and the usage of music for discharge was fully mediated by higher levels of emotion-oriented coping. The relationships between stress and EE and between stress and music for discharge was partially mediated by emotion-oriented coping. None of these relationships were explained by avoidance coping, however. This suggests that using music for discharge and EE share a common relationship with using emotions to cope. Potential implications for reducing EE and future research directions are discussed.