Jennifer Coelho

Jennifer.coelho@maastrichtuniversity.nl

What happens when someone who is interested in losing weight walks by a bakery, seeing and smelling all the freshly-baked cakes and cookies -- are these goodies so tempting that the person will break a diet in order to eat some? My primary research focuses on the physiological and behavioural effects of exposure to food-related cues. For my Ph.D. research, which I completed in 2006 at the University of Toronto (under the supervision of Dr. Janet Polivy), I investigated the effects of exposure to an olfactory food cue on the eating behaviour of chronic dieters and non-dieters. For my post-doctoral research, I will extend this area of research and study how overweight and normal-weight children react to food-cue exposure. Previous research has indicated that overweight (but not normal-weight) children overeat after seeing & smelling appetizing foods (Jansen et al., 2003). I intend to follow-up on this research, and investigate whether there are interventions which can inhibit this overeating response.

I have also trained as a clinical psychologist, specializing in eating disorders, and am interested in research into factors that might serve in the development and maintenance of eating disorders. In collaboration with Dr. Jacqueline Carter and Dr. Traci McFarlane, I completed an experimental study investigating ‘thought-shape fusion’ – a cognitive distortion which is related to eating psychopathology (Shafran et al., 1999) – and I plan to continue this secondary area of research during my post-doctoral fellowship.

I am happy to hear from students who are interested in getting involved with experimental research related to eating behaviour, dieting, or obesity. I supervise bachelor’s and master’s theses, and am the co-coordinator for the research master’s course in eating disorders.


Coelho, J.S., Polivy, J., Herman, C.P. & Pliner, P. (in press). Effects of food-cue exposure on dieting-related goals: A limitation to counteractive-control theory. Appetite.

Polivy, J., Herman, C.P. & Coelho, J.S. (in press). Caloric restriction in the presence of attractive food cues: External cues, eating, and weight. Physiology & Behavior.

Coelho, J.S., Carter, J.C., McFarlane, T. & Polivy, J. (2008). “Just looking at food makes me gain weight”: Experimental induction of thought-shape fusion in eating-disordered and non-eating-disordered women. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 219-228.

Salvy, S., Vartanian, L.R., Coelho, J.S., Jarrin, D. & Pliner, P. (2008). The role of familiarity on modeling and food consumption in children. Appetite, 50, 514-518.

Salvy, S., Coelho, J.S., Kieffer, E. & Epstein, L.H. (2007). Effects of Social Contexts on Overweight and Normal-Weight Children’s Food Intake. Physiology & Behavior, 92, 840-846.

Coelho, J.S., Thornton, C., Touyz, S.W., Lacey, J.H. & Corfe, S. (2007). Eating Disorders and Drug and Alcohol Problems. In Amanda Baker and Richard Velleman (Eds.). Clinical handbook of co-existing mental health and drug and alcohol problems, pp. 290-308. London: Routledge.

Trottier, K.T., Polivy, J. & Coelho, J.S. (2007). Eating Disorders. In Firestone, P. & Marshall, W.L. (Eds.) Abnormal Psychology: Perspectives (3rd Edition), pp. 220-243. Pearson – Prentice-Hall.

Coelho, J.S., Polivy, J & Herman, C.P. (2006). Selective Carbohydrate or Protein Restriction: Effects on Food Intake and Food Cravings. Appetite, 47, 352-360. [Download PDF]

Coelho, J.S., Trottier, K. & Polivy, J. (2006). Anorexia Nervosa. In N.J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Human Development, pp. 98-101. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Coelho, J.S. (2006). Chronic Dieting and Eating Behaviour. In Cohen, J.C. & Keelan, J.E. (Eds.) Comparative Program on Health and Society Lupina Foundation Working Paper Series, 2004-2005. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.



Coelho, J.S., Jansen, A., Roefs, A. & Nederkoorn, C. Eating Behaviour in Response to Food-Cue Exposure: Examining the Cue-Reactivity and Counteractive-Control Models. Oral Presentation submitted to the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Beahvior, Paris, July 2008.

Roefs, A., Lattimore P., de Vos, M., Nederkoorn, C., Coelho, J.S. & Jansen, A. High restrained eaters are less distracted by food than are low restrained eaters. Oral Presentation. Annual Conference of the British Feeding and Drinking Group, Liverpool UK, March 2008.

Coelho, J.S., Polivy, J., Herman, C.P. & Pliner, P. Can dieting goals be activated by exposure to food cues? Oral Presentation. Annual Conference of the British Feeding and Drinking Group, Liverpool UK, March 2008.

Coelho, J.S., Polivy, J., Hargreaves, D., Fleming, A.S., Herman, C.P. & Lao, G. Can caloric restriction in an obesigenic environment be detrimental? Addressing the caloric restriction for longevity movement with evidence from a rat study. Poster Presentation. Annual Meeting of the Eating Disorders Research Society, Pittsburgh, USA, October 2007.

Coelho, J.S., Carter, J., McFarlane, T. & Polivy, J. Cognitive Distortions in Eating Disorders: An Experimental Investigation of Thought-Shape Fusion. Oral Presentation. World Congress of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies, Barcelona, Spain, July, 2007.

Polivy, J., Coelho, J.S., Hargreaves, D., Fleming, A. & Herman, C.P. The effects of external cues on eating and body weight: another look at obese humans and rats. Oral Presentation. Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, July, 2007.

Coelho, J.S., Hargreaves, D.H., Polivy, J. & Fleming, A. Caloric Restriction in Male Rats: Physiological and Behavioural Effects. Poster Presentation. Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, May, 2006.

Coelho, J.S., Polivy, J., Herman, C.P. & Pliner, P. Exposure to an Olfactory Food Cue: Does it Suppress Eating in Restrained Eaters? Poster Presentation. Annual Meeting of the Eating Disorders Research Society, Toronto, October, 2005.

Coelho, J.S. Food Cravings and Eating Behaviour: The Role of Chronic Dieting. Oral Presentation. Comparative Program on Health and Society Seminar Series, University of Toronto, March, 2005.

Coelho, J.S. Trottier, K., Polivy, J. & Dalton, A. Differential Motivations for and Approaches to Dieting in Restrained and Unrestrained Eaters. Poster Presentation. Annual Convention of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, New Orleans, November, 2004.

Coelho, J.S., Polivy, J. & Herman, C.P. “Forced” versus Incidental Eating: Eating Behaviours of Restrained and Unrestrained Eaters after Exposure to an Olfactory Food Cue. Oral Presentation. Australia and New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders, Melbourne, Australia, August, 2004.

Coelho, J.S. & Polivy, J. Response to Cravings in Restrained and Unrestrained Eaters. Poster Presentation. Annual Convention of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Boston, MA, November, 2003.

Coelho, J.S. & Polivy, J. Psychological and Behavioural Consequences of Selective Food Restriction. Poster presentation. Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, ON, August, 2003.

Coelho, J. S. & Whittal, M. L. Are subtypes of obsessive-compulsive disorder differentially responsive to treatment? Poster presentation. World Congress of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Vancouver, B.C., July 2001.