Emotion regulation and healthy behaviors of the body energy balance in adults: A review of evidence

There is no document that analyzes the state of the art of scientific research published between 2013 and 2018 in relation to possible interdependence links between emotional regulation [ER] and healthy behaviors associated with Body Energy Balance [BEB] (physical activity, balanced diet and sleep hygiene). To achieve this purpose, an exploratory systematic review was conducted, whose search criteria were "emotion regulation", "emotion dysregulation" connected with the Boolean operator "AND" to the keywords "sleep hygiene", "eating behavior" and "physical activity". Terms like "alexithymia", "depression", "stress", "negative emotions", and "rumination" were omitted. The methodological quality of the evidence was assessed with a patented rubric. After applying the analysis criteria, 35 articles were obtained, reporting the existence of reciprocal associations and interactions between ER and at least one of the three behaviors associated with BEB were analyzed. It is concluded that, despite the importance of these behaviors in the vital maintenance of people and the clear impact that emotional regulation has on them, their research has not been sufficient, and more empirical studies in this regard in Latin America are needed.