General Discussion 207 7 Tailoring is also recommended on the three measured aspects of emotion regulation strategy, namely (Chapter 6) ‘awareness’, ‘impulse’ and ‘strategies’, noting that impulse is applicable to all emotional eaters and therefore the corresponding exercise ‘opposite action’ may also be useful for all emotional eaters. Implications for design: targeting multiple user groups Transdiagnostic approach Utilizing virtual coaching can be highly beneficial for emotional eaters, enabling them to receive coaching and address their emotional eating behaviour on a self management basis. However, in addition to the target group of emotional eaters, there are other individuals who struggle with emotion regulation skills. We believe that the virtual coach could also be applicable in a so-called transdiagnostic approach, which aims to understand mental disorders from a frame of mind that is not dominated by the concept of diagnosis [54-58]. The dialectical coaching strategy, as derived from the dialectical behaviour therapy, originally developed for adults who are chronically suicidal, and adapted for eating disorders, substance use disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder, is from its basis already trans-diagnostic because of its focus on emotional dysregulation [59]. Target groups, suffering fromburnout, depression, and emotion regulation disorder, who, as well as emotional eaters, have problems with common vulnerabilities or risk factors such as emotion regulation skills, could also be helped by a virtual coach. Employing a virtual coach approach can be helpful in prioritizing urgent matters, as, for example, in the case of emotion dysregulation. Potentially, such an approach can make the role of the emotional eater more self-reliant by enabling him/her to work on functional disorders on their own [60]. In summary, the likelihood of success in developing a virtual coach has increased. The target group seems to be quite reachable and thus a taboo has been broken. Moreover, it has become clear that the target group of emotional eaters has a need for greater knowledge and awareness of emotions and emotion regulation, and that there is potentially enough motivation in the target group to get them to work on emotional eating behaviour with the deployment of self-management.
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