Impact of DBT-based counselling program on emotional eating and emotional regulation among overweight women

BACKGROUND: This study investigates the impact of a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)-based counseling program on emotional regulation (ER) and emotional eating (EE) among overweight female students. The program incorporated four core DBT modules: mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. METHOD: A sample of 68 female students at a public university in Saudi Arabia was selected for a quasi-experiment. The participants were divided equally into two groups: an experimental group (n = 34) and a control group (n = 34). The dependent variables (ER and EE) were assessed before and after the intervention (DBT-based counseling program). RESULTS: The experimental group outperformed the control group at the 0.01 level, which can be considered as preliminary evidence of an association between the DBT and enhanced ER and reduced EE. These findings suggest that the DBT-based program can help overweight students manage emotional distress and reduce reliance on food as a coping strategy during their transition from school to university. CONCLUSIONS: DBT-based counseling can be a preventive intervention for managing emotional distress and disordered eating patterns. DBT supports students' psychological well-being during critical transitional periods.