Emotional Eater Questionnaire

Do your emotions control your eating habits? Take this test to find out.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D. | May 30, 2024

The Emotional Eater Questionnaire is a psychological assessment tool designed to quantify different facets of emotional eating behavior. Emotional eating involves turning to food in response to emotions rather than physical hunger cues.

The scale evaluates several dimensions of emotional eating behavior—including cravings for specific foods, difficulties in regulating food intake, eating in reaction to stress or emotional triggers, feelings of guilt regarding certain foods, and the perception of loss of control over eating habits.

Scores on the emotional eater scale provide insight into the degree to which individuals engage in emotional eating behaviors. Higher scores indicate a greater reliance on food for emotional comfort or regulation, whereas lower scores suggest more controlled eating habits.

You can take this test here. Please follow all of the steps to receive your results.

Step 1: Rate each of the following questions based on how often they apply to you on a scale from never to always.

1. Do weight scales have a great power over you? Can they change your mood?

2. Do you crave specific foods?

3. Is it difficult for you to stop eating sweet things, especially chocolate?

4. Do you have problems controlling the amount of certain types of food you eat?

5. Do you eat when you are stressed, angry, or bored?

6. Do you eat more of your favorite food and with less control when you are alone?

7. Do you feel guilty when you eat "forbidden" foods, like sweets or snacks?

8. Do you feel less control over your diet when you are tired after work at night?

9. When you overeat while on a diet, do you give up and start eating without control, particularly food that you think is fattening?

10. How often do you feel that food controls you, rather than you controlling food?

Step 2: Enter your age, gender, region, and first name so we can provide you with a detailed report that compares your test scores to people similar to you.

What is your age?

What is your gender?

What region of the world do you live in?

What is your first name?

Step 3: Check to make sure you've provided answers to all of the statements/questions above. Once you've done that, click the button below to send your responses to Awake Therapy's Lead Psychologist, Mark Travers, Ph.D. He will provide you with an overview of how you scored relative to others (all answers are anonymized and confidential to protect users' privacy). He can also answer any follow-up questions you may have.

References: Garaulet M, Canteras M, Morales E, López-Guimera G, Sánchez-Carracedo D, Corbalán-Tutau MD (2012). Validation of a questionnaire on emotional eating for use in cases of obesity: the Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ). Nutrición Hospitalaria. 27(2):645-51. doi: 10.1590/S0212-16112012000200043. PMID: 22732995