(PS13-B38) Validation of Financial Stress Vignettes and the Impact on High Calorie Food Desire

Prior research has demonstrated the negative consequences of financial stress, yet less research has focused on inducing the perception of financial stress. In one such study, Mani and colleagues (2013) developed a series of vignettes to examine the effect of financial stress on fluid intelligence. Results indicated that the stress induced by the vignettes suppressed fluid intelligence for individuals in the high-stress condition who experienced external financial stress as compared to the easy stress and no financial stress. However, the study failed to include participant perception of stress and a no-stress condition. Additionally, stress has been associated with increased and decreased eating behaviors as well as eating in the absence of hunger. The interaction between financial stress and eating behavior is complex and bears further examination within a controlled laboratory setting. The current study endeavors to rectify concerns with the Mani and colleagues' vignettes through validation as well as examining the impact on desire for high-calorie foods. Hypothesis 1 stated that increased difficulty in the stress condition would predict increased perceived stress. Hypothesis 2 stated that higher rates of stress would be associated with increased desire for unhealthy foods.

Participants included 373 emerging adult college students at a Southern university (M = 19.60; SD = 1.85, 71.3% female, 72.7% Caucasian). Participants were randomized to one of the three conditions (i.e., hard, easy, no stress) adapted from the Mani and colleagues (2013) vignettes after which all participants saw food images of high calories foods from the Food Pics Database. Participants rated each desire for that specific food using the Food Cravings Questionnaire-State Desire subscale.

A one-way ANOVA was run to compare the effects of stress induction group on self-reported stress. Condition had a significant effect on self-reported stress (F(2, 371) =  21.28, p < .001). Post hoc comparisons using LSD indicate that the mean score for the Easy stress condition (M = 5.99, SD = 2.79) was significantly different from the Hard stress (M = 6.81, SD = 3.03, p = .026) and No stress (M = 4.50, SD = 2.77, p < .001) conditions. Additionally, the Hard stress and No stress conditions were significantly different from each other (p < .001). A one-way ANCOVA was run to compare the effects of self-perceived stress on desire for unhealthy food while controlling for condition. Participants self-perceived stress had a significant impact on food desire (F(12, 328) =  1.78, p = .050), yet participant condition failed to find a significant effect on food desire. Results indicated an increase in food desire as stress increased.

It is clear that the levels of financial stress vignettes were associated with participant perceived stress, thus validating the Mani and colleagues' (2013) vignettes and are useful to induce financial stress. However, participation in a specific condition alone was insufficient to increase desire for high-calorie foods. Moreover, participant stress was associated with increased desire for high calories foods, consistent with previous research on stress and eating behaviors. Implications will be discussed further in the poster.