Linking Grazing to Inhibition and Goal-Directed Behaviour in Obesity With and Without Eating Disorder Features

Abstract Recent models of obesity and eating behaviour have implicated both automatic responding to food-related cues and executive functioning in driving dietary choice. This study aimed to relate grazing severity to high weight with and without significant eating disorder features via the effects of inhibition and degree of goal-directed behaviour, in persons with obesity with and without significant eating disorder features compared to healthy controls. Forty-four participants with obesity (43.1% endorsing marked eating disorder features), and 43 healthy-weight age- and sex-matched participants (N = 87; 67.8% female, age = 28.57 (8.70; 18.18–58.34) years, BMI = 29.18 (7.80; 18.65–51.95) kg/m2) completed demographic and eating disorder-related questionnaires, a neuropsychological task of inhibition and an instrumental decision-making task. Bootstrapped serial mediation analyses were performed to examine the effect of group on grazing via goal-directed behaviour and inhibition. While significant differences existed between the groups in terms of inhibition, goal-directed behaviour and grazing severity, the effect of group on grazing severity was not found to be mediated by the degree of behavioural goal-directedness and inhibition. Therefore, :in persons with obesity with or without eating disorder symptoms, putative relationships between a reduced inhibitory profile and/or behaviour that is less flexible and goal-directed and eating behaviours such as grazing, remain unclear.

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Mediating role of disordered eating in the relationship between screen time and BMI in adolescents: longitudinal findings from the Research on Eating and Adolescent Lifestyles (REAL) study

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s136898002000049x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 23 (18) ◽

pp. 3336-3345

Author(s):

Fatima Mougharbel ◽

Darcie D Valois ◽

Megan Lamb ◽

Annick Buchholz ◽

Nicole Obeid ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Disordered Eating ◽

Screen Time ◽

Eating Behaviour ◽

Positive Association ◽

Video Gaming ◽

Eating Behaviours ◽

Multiple Mediation ◽

Tv Viewing ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Mediating Role

AbstractObjective:This study investigated whether the duration and type of screen time (ST) (TV viewing, recreational computer use, video gaming) is longitudinally associated with z-BMI and if these relationships are mediated by disordered eating (emotional, restrained).Design:At baseline, participants were n 1197 (T1; 60 % female) adolescents (mean age = 13·51 years) who completed surveys over 2 years. ST was assessed by a self-reported measure created by the investigative team, while emotional and restrained eating was measured by the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEB-Q). Height and weight were objectively measured to quantify z-BMI.Setting:Thirty-one public and two private schools from the region of Ottawa, Canada.Participants:Students in grades 7–12.Results:Parallel multiple mediation analyses revealed that more time spent watching TV at baseline is associated with higher z-BMI at T3 (total effect; B = 0·19, se = 0·07, P = 0·01, 95 % CI 0·05, 0·34), but no relationships were observed for total ST exposure or other types of ST and z-BMI. Disordered eating did not mediate the positive association between baseline TV viewing and z-BMI at T3.Conclusions:TV viewing was longitudinally associated with higher z-BMI in a community-based sample of adolescents, but disordered eating behaviours did not mediate this relationship. However, other non-pathological eating behaviours may mediate the association between ST and obesity and warrant further investigation. Finding suggests that targeting reduction in youth’s TV viewing may be an effective component in the prevention of childhood obesity.

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Eating Disturbances in Competitive Lightweight and Heavyweight Rowers

Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology ◽

10.1123/jcsp.2016-0042 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 630-646

Author(s):

Uta Kraus ◽

Sophie Clara Holtmann ◽

Tanja Legenbauer

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Regression Analysis ◽

Eating Disorder ◽

Disordered Eating ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Eating Behaviour ◽

Eating Disturbances ◽

Drive For Thinness ◽

Eating Disorder Symptoms ◽

Health Related

Disordered eating in athletes has been frequently studied with a particular emphasis on aesthetic sports. Lately, competitive rowing has come into the focus. It has been supposed that in competitive rowers eating disturbances occur more frequently compared to non-competitive rowers. The aim of the present study therefore is to investigate eating disturbances and mental health related issues in competitive and non-competitive rowers. N = 45 lightweight (LWR), n = 31 heavyweight (HWR) and n = 37 non-competitive rowers (NCR) participated in an online based survey during the beginning of the on-season asking for eating behaviour (SCOFF, EDI-2) and mental health problems (PHQ). Results showed that competitive rowers reported more eating disturbances and risky attitudes/behaviour compared to non-competitive rowers. LWR showed higher Drive for thinness compared to HWR. The regression analysis revealed that Drive for thinness and Bulimia predict eating disorder symptoms in rowers. These results emphasize the presence of serious eating disturbances in competitive rowing.

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The mediating role of mentalizing between attachment and eating disorders

Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic ◽

10.1521/bumc.2018.82.3.202 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 82 (3) ◽

pp. 202-223 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Iratxe Redondo ◽

Patrick Luyten

Keyword(s):

Eating Disorders ◽

Eating Disorder ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Insecure Attachment ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Eating Disorder Symptoms ◽

The Relationship

The objective of the study was to investigate whether mindfulness mediated the relationship between attachment and eating disorders in a sample of 323 female university students and 38 anorexic inpatients using structural equation modeling. All insecure attachment subscales were positively related to eating disorder symptoms and negatively to mindfulness. Furthermore, mindfulness scores were negatively associated with eating disorder symptoms. Mediation analyses showed that the relationship between all the insecure attachment subscales and eating disorders was partially mediated by the mindfulness effects. These results are in line with Bateman and Fonagy's (2004a, 2004b) theory that implies a mediating role of mindfulness used as a proxy for mentalizing between attachment and psychopathology. Further research is needed, however, to replicate these findings.

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Worry or craving? A selective review of evidence for food-related attention biases in obese individuals, eating-disorder patients, restrained eaters and healthy samples

Proceedings of The Nutrition Society ◽

10.1017/s0029665114001451 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 74 (2) ◽

pp. 99-114 ◽

Cited By ~ 59

Author(s):

Jessica Werthmann ◽

Anita Jansen ◽

Anne Roefs

Keyword(s):

Eating Disorder ◽

Food Environment ◽

Weight Maintenance ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Eating Behaviour ◽

Attention Bias ◽

Healthy Weight ◽

Restrained Eaters ◽

Food Cues ◽

Attentional Processing

Living in an ‘obesogenic’ environment poses a serious challenge for weight maintenance. However, many people are able to maintain a healthy weight indicating that not everybody is equally susceptible to the temptations of this food environment. The way in which someone perceives and reacts to food cues, that is, cognitive processes, could underlie differences in susceptibility. An attention bias for food could be such a cognitive factor that contributes to overeating. However, an attention bias for food has also been implicated with restrained eating and eating-disorder symptomatology. The primary aim of the present review was to determine whether an attention bias for food is specifically related to obesity while also reviewing evidence for attention biases in eating-disorder patients, restrained eaters and healthy-weight individuals. Another aim was to systematically examine how selective attention for food relates (causally) to eating behaviour. Current empirical evidence on attention bias for food within obese samples, eating-disorder patients, and, even though to a lesser extent, in restrained eaters is contradictory. However, present experimental studies provide relatively consistent evidence that an attention bias for food contributes to subsequent food intake. This review highlights the need to distinguish not only between different (temporal) attention bias components, but also to take different motivations (craving v. worry) and their impact on attentional processing into account. Overall, the current state of research suggests that biased attention could be one important cognitive mechanism by which the food environment tempts us into overeating.

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Dieting and the Eating Disorders

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190620998.013.7 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Eric Stice ◽

Heather Shaw

Keyword(s):

Risk Factor ◽

Eating Disorder ◽

Weight Maintenance ◽

Eating Pathology ◽

Healthy Weight ◽

Eating Disorder Symptoms ◽

Causal Risk Factor ◽

Increase Risk ◽

Tendency Toward Overeating ◽

Dieting Behaviors

This chapter reviews theories and empirical evidence linking dietary restraint to eating pathology. Prospective studies suggest that dieting increases risk for future onset of bulimic pathology, yet experiments indicate that assignment to weight loss and weight maintenance diets reduces eating disorder symptoms. The chapter considers explanations for these inconsistent findings. The analysis suggests that dieting is not a causal risk factor for bulimic pathology but may be a proxy risk factor. It posits that a tendency toward overeating may lead to both dieting and eating pathology. Nonetheless, fasting does increase the reward value of food and appears to increase the likelihood of binge eating, suggesting that eating disorder treatments should promote consuming three healthy meals daily. The chapter proposes studies that should help differentiate dieting behaviors that can be used for healthy weight management versus dieting behaviors that increase risk for eating pathology.

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How Perfectionism and Eating Disorder Symptoms Contribute to Searching Weight-Loss Information on the Internet?

Medicina ◽

10.3390/medicina55100621 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 55 (10) ◽

pp. 621

Author(s):

Katarina Prnjak ◽

Ivan Jukic ◽

Anita Lauri Korajlija

Keyword(s):

Weight Loss ◽

Eating Disorder ◽

Potential Risk ◽

The Internet ◽

Online Searching ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Eating Disorder Symptoms ◽

Maladaptive Perfectionism ◽

Potential Risk Factors ◽

Eating Disorder Symptomatology

Background and Objectives: Eating disorder (ED) symptoms are a growing problem and modern technologies introduced a new and unexplored potential risk factor for vulnerable individuals. It is fairly common for women to use the Internet in order to find information about various weight-loss methods, but it was further questioned whether perfectionism and eating disorder symptomatology could be linked to this behavior. Materials and Methods: Participants were 228 women (Mean age = 30.5; SD = 9.43) recruited via social media, who provided responses on measures of perfectionism, eating disorder symptoms, and a short check-list measuring the frequency of online searching about five topics (food, diet, exercise, body appearance, and eating disorders). Results: Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that the BMI and Discrepancy subscale of APS-R significantly predicted online searching, along with eating disorder symptomatology. Moreover, mediation analyses resulted in a significant indirect effect, but not a direct effect, indicating that eating disorder symptomatology fully mediated the relationship between BMI and online searching, as well as between maladaptive perfectionism and online searching. Conclusion: These findings shed light on a high BMI and maladaptive perfectionism as potential risk factors for eating disorder-related behavior on the Internet. More attention to online-seeking behavior among women symptomatic of ED is warranted, and websites containing such topics should include information about professional help for eating disorder-symptomatic individuals.

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