Health psychologists have taken a uniquely biobehavioral approach to psychological and physiological dysfunction. They tend not to make rigid distinctions between problems that have been considered primarily psychological and those that have been classified as physiological. Instead, they have taken a more gestalt approach, looking at the human being as a whole and examining the dynamic interaction of the many forces at work on and within the individual. These forces include genetics, biology (including metabolism and neurophysiology), familial and sociocultural factors, personality or intra-psychic factors, and general environmental or situational factors.
Health psychologists recognize that these variables influence a person's behavior as well as his physical, mental, and emotional health. Thus, their approach to stress as a result of obesity differs from that of a traditional psychologist or a medical doctor insofar as it deliberately includes physical, mental, and social contributing factors. This holistic viewpoint can lead the health psychologist to prescribe different kinds of treatment than another health professional might. Obesity and stress are both multi-etiolic disorders which therefore often require multi-modal therapy (Buckmaster & Brownell, 1988).
There has been a good deal of controversy about the problems of stress and obesity, and current research has led to two schools of thought about it. The older school believed that obesity was a result of stress, i.e., that some people consistently overeat due to psychological stress and thereby become obese (Greenwood & Pittman-Waller, 1988). This view is still widely held and has some research to support it. For instance, Rowland & Antelman (1976) found that a rat will overeat in response to the stress of a tail pinch, especially if palatable, familiar food is readily available.
It has also been shown that a substantial number of obese people tend to over...