Doctors have long known “emotional eaters” tend to down high-calorie sugar-laden foods when under stress. But new research shows that stress itself is a key contributor to Type 2 diabetes — regardless of a person’s diet.

In fact, the Stanford University-led study found individuals exposed to high levels of stress at age 18 — who don’t manage it well — are up to 50 percent more likely to develop diabetes later in life.

The findings — published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes — suggest what is known as “stress resilience” is a key factor in who develops diabetes and who does not, and may be as significant as healthy diet and exercise habits.

"These findings suggest that psychosocial function and ability to cope with stress may play an important long-term role in [the risk] for Type 2 diabetes,” the authors concluded. “Additional studies will be needed to elucidate the specific underlying causal factors, which may help inform more effective preventive interventions across the lifespan."

For the study, researchers examined the medical charts of more than 1. 5 million military personnel in Sweden from 1969 to 2012. To be included, the men had to have no previous diagnosis of diabetes.

The participants underwent standardized psychological assessment for stress resilience and were followed up for Type 2 diabetes. Over the course of the study, 34,008 men were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

The researchers found the men with the lowest levels of stress resilience were 51 percent more likely to have been diagnosed with diabetes those with highest resistance to stress.