Psychobiological correlates of eating behavior in middle-aged women

The aim of this thesis is to determine selected psychobiological aspects of eating behavior in middle-aged women. For this purpose, two studies were conducted. In the first study, the association between menopausal status, self-esteem and restrained eating in middle-aged women was examined. Postmenopausal women showed higher scores in restrained eating than premenopausal women. Further analyses indicate a U-shaped relationship between self-esteem and restrained eating. Self-esteem serves as a mediator between menopausal status and restrained eating. These results suggest that restrained eating could be a more widespread phenomenon in middle-aged women than generally believed. In the second study, the relationship between menopausal status, estrogen, prior history of anorexia nervosa and postprandial ghrelin levels in middle-aged women was investigated. The results show an interaction effect between menopausal status, estrogen and postprandial ghrelin levels. The area under the curve for ghrelin was increased in participants with prior history of anorexia nervosa compared to participants without prior history of anorexia nervosa. In general, the results of this thesis suggest that it can be hypothesized that menopausal transition may represent a window of vulnerability to eating-related changes.