Effect of boredom on eating behavior: Development of the Japanese version of a Short Boredom Proneness Scale

In the present study, a Japanese version of the Short Boredom Proneness Scale (SBPS) was developed, and its reliability and validity were examined. In addition, the effects of boredom proneness on eating behaviors, such as emotional eating and intuitive eating, were examined. In study 1,208 men and women completed the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the Japanese version of the SBPS had a one-factor structure similar to the original version, and the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the SBPS were demonstrated. In study 2,782 men and women completed the questionnaire. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that the more easily bored one was, the more likely one was to engage in emotional eating. Regarding the moderating effect of emotion regulation strategies, the function of emotion regulation differed depending on sex and the characteristic factors of boredom. The results of this study suggest that by accounting for the characteristic factors of boredom, effective interventions for eating behavior may be enabled by accounting for the characteristic factors of boredom.