Film-induced negative affect triggers overeating in restrained eaters

Food Selection Under Stress Among Undergraduate Students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background

University students might experience numerous sources of stress in their daily lives. Previous research has found that stress affects food selection patterns, but the effect might vary by country and sex. No previous study conducted in Saudi Arabia has assessed the association between stress and dietary habits among university students. Thus, this study aimed to examine the association between perceived stress and food selection patterns among undergraduate students by sex at King Saud University (KSU).

Methods

A cross-sectional study of 400 students attending the College of Applied Medical Sciences in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was conducted. The self-administered questionnaire that was used consisted of three sections: sociodemographic, food frequency questionnaire, and Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale.

Results

Approximately (59.0%) of the participants reported suffering from some level of stress, with more females (64.5%) experiencing stress than males (54.0%). The univariate analysis showed that under stress, more females (68.0%) reported eating more than usual than males (49.0%), while the percentage of respondents that reported eating less than usual was higher for females (23.0%) than that for males (31.0%). The McNemar test indicated that under stress, there was an increased preference for salty flavors, which was not associated with sex. Significantly more females (82.0%) than males (64.5%) reported preferring sweets under stress. More males reported preferring bitter and savory flavors than females. Under stress, females preferred homemade food, while males preferred takeout foods. More females (68.0%) reported losing control and overeating than males (49.0%). A logistic regression showed that for female students, perceived stress was associated with frequent consumption of sweets, cake/cookies, snacks and beverages and less frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables. For males, the consumption of fast food and meat was significantly positively associated with perceived stress.

Conclusion

Perceived stress led to unhealthy changes in eating patterns in both sexes, as evidenced by reports of an increased preference for sweets, snacks and cake/cookies among females and an increased preference for fast food and meat among males. These results may be potentially important targets for interventions for stress-related food consumption.

Independent and interactive associations of negative affect, restraint, and impulsivity in relation to binge eating among women

There is growing recognition that impulsivity may serve as an underlying risk factor for binge eating. In addition, the association of impulsivity with binge eating may be moderated by other affective and cognitive risk factors. This study examined independent and interactive associations of negative affect, dietary restraint, and facets of impulsivity with binge eating. A diverse sample of 566 undergraduate women completed online questionnaires of study variables. Results revealed a three-way interaction of negative affect, dietary restraint, and attentional impulsivity in relation to binge eating. Women who were high on each of these three variables reported the greatest levels of binge eating. In addition, a two-way interaction was found for negative affect and nonplanning impulsivity in relation to binge eating, such that nonplanning impulsivity strengthened the association between negative affect and binge eating. Attentional and nonplanning facets of impulsivity may function as an underlying trait-level risk factor interacts with affective and/or cognitive risk (e.g., negative affect, dietary restraint) factors to predict elevated binge eating.

Automatic Approach Tendencies toward High and Low Caloric Food in Restrained Eaters: Influence of Task-Relevance and Mood

Objective: Although restrained eaters are motivated to control their weight by dieting, they are often unsuccessful in these attempts. Dual process models emphasize the importance of differentiating between controlled and automatic tendencies to approach food. This study investigated the hypothesis that heightened automatic approach tendencies in restrained eaters would be especially prominent in contexts where food is irrelevant for their current tasks. Additionally, we examined the influence of mood on the automatic tendency to approach food as a function of dietary restraint. Methods: An Affective Simon Task-manikin was administered to measure automatic approach tendencies where food is task-irrelevant, and a Stimulus Response Compatibility task (SRC) to measure automatic approach in contexts where food is task-relevant, in 92 female participants varying in dietary restraint. Prior to the task, sad, stressed, neutral, or positive mood was induced. Food intake was measured during a bogus taste task after the computer tasks. Results: Consistent with their diet goals, participants with a strong tendency to restrain their food intake showed a relatively weak approach bias toward food when food was task-relevant (SRC) and this effect was independent of mood. Restrained eaters showed a relatively strong approach bias toward food when food was task-irrelevant in the positive condition and a relatively weak approach in the sad mood. Conclusion: The weak approach bias in contexts where food is task-relevant may help high-restrained eaters to comply with their diet goal. However, the strong approach bias in contexts where food is task-irrelevant and when being in a positive mood may interfere with restrained eaters' goal of restricting food-intake.

Binge eating is associated with trait anxiety in Korean adolescent girls: a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND

Binge eating occurs more frequently in women than in men, and is known to be related to psychological factors such as stress, depression, and anxiety. This study examined the relationship between binge eating and depression, trait anxiety, and perceived stress in Korean adolescents.

METHODS

Four hundred girls (aged 17-18 years) from two high schools located in Seoul completed self-report questionnaires. In total, 327 participants returned reliable responses, and were included in the final study. Binge eating was measured using the Bulimic Inventory Test Edinburgh. The questionnaire also included the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Trait Anxiety (TA) of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Anxiety Sensitivity Inventory (ASI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

RESULTS

The binge-eating group had higher BMI than the control group. The binge-eating group showed higher scores than control on the PSS, BDI, ASI, and TA. The TA was most highly correlated with binge eating. From logistic regression analysis, TA was revealed to be the only factor that raised the risk of binge eating, whereas PSS, BDI, and ASI showed no statistical significance.

CONCLUSION

Although binge eating was correlated with perceived stress, depression, and trait anxiety, when their influences were controlled, only binge eating appeared to be associated with trait anxiety.

Depressed affect and dietary restraint in adolescent boys' and girls' eating in the absence of hunger

Data suggest that depressed affect and dietary restraint are related to disinhibited eating patterns in children and adults. Yet, experimental research has not determined to what extent depressed affect acutely affects eating in the absence of physiological hunger (EAH) in adolescents. In the current between-subjects experimental study, we measured EAH in 182 adolescent (13-17 y) girls (65%) and boys as ad libitum palatable snack food intake after youth ate to satiety from a buffet meal. Just prior to EAH, participants were randomly assigned to view either a sad or neutral film clip. Dietary restraint was measured with the Eating Disorder Examination. Adolescents who viewed the sad film clip reported small but significant increases in state depressed affect relative to adolescents who viewed the neutral film clip (p < .001). Yet, there was no main effect of film condition on EAH (p = .26). Instead, dietary restraint predicted greater EAH among girls, but not boys (p < .001). These findings provide evidence that adolescent girls' propensity to report restrained eating is associated with their greater disinhibited eating in the laboratory. Additional experimental research, perhaps utilizing a more potent laboratory stressor and manipulating both affective state and dietary restraint, is required to elucidate how state affect may interact with dietary restraint to influence EAH during adolescence.

Heightened vagal activity during high-calorie food presentation in obese compared with non-obese individuals--results of a pilot study

Eating behaviours are highly cue-dependent. Changes in mood states and exposure to palatable food both increase craving and consumption of food. Vagal activity supports adaptive modulation of physiological arousal and has an important role in cue-induced appetitive behaviours. Using high-frequency heart rate variability (HF HRV), this preliminary study compared vagal activity during positive and negative mood induction, and presentation of preferred high-calorie food items between obese (n = 12; BMI ≥ 30) and non-obese individuals (n = 14; 18.5 < BMI < 30). Participants completed two laboratory sessions (negative vs. positive mood conditions). Following 3-h of food deprivation, all participants completed a mood induction, and then were exposed to their preferred high-calorie food items. HF HRV was assessed throughout. Obese and non-obese individuals were not significantly different in HF HRV during positive or negative mood induction. Obese individuals showed significantly greater levels of HF HRV during presentation of their preferred high-calorie food items than non-obese individuals, particularly in the positive mood condition. This is the first study to demonstrate increased vagal activity in response to food cues in obese individuals compared with non-obese individuals. Our findings warrant further investigation on the potential role of vagally-mediated cue reactivity in overeating and obesity.

Positive mood + action = negative mood + inaction: effects of general action and inaction concepts on decisions and performance as a function of affect

General action and inaction concepts have been shown to produce broad, goal-mediated effects on cognitive and motor activity irrespective of the type of activity. The current research tested a model in which action and inaction goals interact with the valence of incidental moods to guide behavior. Over four experiments, participants' moods were manipulated to be positive (happy), neutral, or negative (angry or sad), and then general action, inaction, and neutral concepts were primed. In Experiment 1, action primes increased intellectual performance when participants experienced a positive (happy) or neutral mood, whereas inaction primes increased performance when participants experienced a negative (angry) mood. Including a control-prime condition, Experiments 2 and 3 replicated these results measuring the number of general interest articles participants were willing to read and participants' memory for pictures of celebrities. Experiment 4 replicated the results comparing happiness with sadness and suggested that the effect of the prime's adoption was automatic. Overall, the findings supported an interactive model by which action concepts and positive affect produce the same increases in active behavior as inaction concepts and negative affect.

Association between energy intake and viewing television, distractibility, and memory for advertisements

BACKGROUND

The effect of television viewing (TVV) with and without advertisements (ads) on energy intake is unclear.

OBJECTIVE

The objectives were to test 1) the effect of TVV, with and without ads, on energy intake compared with a control and reading condition and 2) the association of distractibility and memory for ads with energy intake and body weight.

DESIGN

Forty-eight (26 female) adults (age: 19-54 y) with a body mass index (in kg/m(2)) of 20-35 completed this laboratory-based study. All participants completed 4 buffet-style meals in random order in the following conditions: 1) control, 2) while reading, 3) while watching TV with food and nonfood ads (TV-ads), and 4) while watching TV with no ads (TV-no ads). Energy intake was quantified by weighing foods. Distractibility and memory for ads in the TV-ads condition were quantified with a norm-referenced test and recognition task, respectively.

RESULTS

Repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated that energy and macronutrient intake did not differ significantly among the 4 conditions (P > 0.65). Controlling for sex, memory for ads was associated with body weight (r = 0.36, P < 0.05) and energy intake but only when viewing TV (r = 0.39, P < 0.05 during the TV-no ads condition, and r = 0.29, P = 0.06 during the TV-ads condition). Controlling for sex, distractibility was associated with body weight (r = 0.36, P < 0.05) but not energy intake. Distractibility, however, accounted for 13% of the variance in men's energy intake (P = 0.11).

CONCLUSIONS

TVV did not affect energy intake, but individual characteristics (memory for ads) were associated with body weight and energy intake in certain conditions. These characteristics should be considered in food intake and intervention studies.

Neither restrained eating nor tendency toward overeating predict food consumption after tension induction

The present study investigates whether the so-called disinhibition effect is better accounted for by tendency toward overeating than by restraint. The rationale was that in mood-induction studies, so far, the disinhibition effect has only been found in studies that applied the Restraint Scale and hardly ever in studies that used other restraint scales. Tension was induced by the public-speaking method in half of 86 female college students before they participated in an alleged taste test. The Restraint Scale (RS), the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) and the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) were used to measure restraint and tendency toward overeating. No differences were found between the tension and the control condition as to the amounts of food the participants ate. Also no proof of the disinhibition effect was obtained and, remarkably, tendency toward overeating did not predict the amount of food eaten. Possible explanations for these results are offered in the discussion.

To eat or not to eat: affective and physiological mechanisms in the stress-eating relationship

The current study aggregated methods from the cardiovascular reactivity and dietary restraint paradigms in an attempt to advance our understanding of stress-induced eating behavior. Seventy-seven female subjects completed a protocol consisting of distinct baseline, stress-induction, and recovery phases during which we monitored blood pressure, heart rate, and self-reported affect. Food was inconspicuously made available to participants during the recovery phase. Our results replicated the restraint x affect level interaction observed in the restraint literature, while showing that physiological measures could further explain distressed eating behavior. Physiological arousal was found reliably to predict reduced food consumption, but only among unrestrained eaters. Analysis of the recovery data showed that food consumption was associated with impaired physiological recovery rates for restrained but not for unrestrained participants. We believe that our results help to reconcile findings in the stress, eating, and dietary restraint fields and offer support for recently developed theories of stress-induced overeating.

The Temptation and Restraint Inventory for measuring drinking restraint

In the present study, the measurement of drinking restraint was broadened by developing new items that better characterized its cognitive nature as well as by testing a factor structure which represents restraint as including both the regulation and the failure to regulate alcohol intake. A previously observed (Collins, George & Lapp, 1989) three-component structure of the Restrained Drinking Scale (RDS; Ruderman & McKirnan, 1984) was confirmed. In addition, two factors were extracted from the new set of cognitive items, which when combined with the RDS clusters formed a new measure of drinking restraint, the Temptation and Restraint Inventory (TRI). The factor structure of the TRI matched the conceptualization of drinking restraint as involving successful and unsuccessful regulation of alcohol intake, and differentially predicted self-reported weekly consumption and alcohol-related problems.