Restrained eating: An experimental disentanglement of the disinhibiting variables of perceived calories and food type.

The influence of food type on the restrained eating pattern was examined. In Study 1, subjects rated the degree to which each of 149 foods were dietary permissable or dietary forbidden. The number of avoided foods correlated positively with restraint score. Study 2 compared Herman and Mack's (1975) 1- and 2-milk shake preloads to two nonforbidden preloads of equivalent calories. Food type, and not perceived calories, was found to be the element of the preload required to cause disinhibition among restrained eaters, both within the experiment and outside the experimental setting. Study 3 examined the effects of anticipated consumption (varying food type and calories) on the restrained eating pattern. Only restrained eaters anticipating a forbidden food (whether high or low in calories) were disinhibited. The restrained literature was reconsidered in light of the forbidden food hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frontal brain asymmetry in restrained eaters.

It is well known that the eating patterns that restrain chronic dieters (restrained eaters) can be disinhibited by anxiety, which in turn has been associated with relative right frontal brain activity in independent electroencephalographic (EEG) studies. Combining these two lines of evidence, the authors tested the hypothesis that chronic restrained eating is associated with relative right frontal asymmetry. Resting anterior brain asymmetry and self-reported measures of anxiety and depression were collected in 23 restrained and 32 unrestrained eaters. As hypothesized, groups differed in tonic frontal activity, with restrained eaters showing more relative right frontal activity. Furthermore, relative right frontal activity was associated with greater self-reported restraint. Right-sided prefrontal asymmetry may thus represent a diathesis associated with increased vulnerability toward restrained eating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some antecedents of regulatory eating by restrained and unrestrained eaters.

120 female undergraduates who were restrained or unrestrained eaters (as determined by the Restraint Scale and the Binge Scale) consumed a milk shake preload and then taste-tested ice cream. All Ss were provided with the same amount of ice cream, but it was presented either in small or large bowls accompanied or not accompanied by accurate information about its caloric content. The double-experimental condition (small-bowl/labeled) produced regulatory eating in restrained and unrestrained Ss. Conversely, both groups counterregulated in the control condition (large-bowl/unlabeled). When only 1 of the 2 experimental procedures was operational, restrained eaters used bigger spoonfuls to consume more than unrestrained eaters; restrained eaters also disproportionately lowered their caloric estimates of their consumption only in these 2 cells. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of plans for future meals on counterregulatory eating by restrained and unrestrained eaters.

Hypothesized that the counterregulatory eating of restrained eaters would be exacerbated by a high-calorie meal plan but prevented by a low-calorie meal plan and that unrestrained eaters would follow the reverse pattern. In Exp I, 33 restrained- and 33 unrestrained-eating female undergraduates consumed a milkshake preload and then taste-tested nuts. Prior to the taste test, Ss were led to believe that they would be returning to the laboratory at dinner-time to consume a rich, high-calorie dinner, a low-calorie dinner, or to participate in a noneating-related experiment (control condition). Results show that high-calorie manipulation increased consumption by both restrained and unrestrained eaters. In Exp II, a very low-calorie condition was added and ice cream was substituted for nuts as the taste-test food; 48 restrained and 48 unrestrained female undergraduates participated. Results confirm the findings of Exp I. It is concluded that (1) the restraint dimension was more continuous than dichotomous, with unrestrained Ss evidencing a higher threshold for counterregulation; and (2) tasting sweet palatable foods may reduce the ability of certain cognitive factors to affect counterregulatory eating by restrained eaters. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Disinhibited eating by resourceful restrained eaters.

Restrained eaters who reported consistent use of a variety of self-control skills were expected to avoid disinhibited eating in a high-risk situation better than were restrained eaters, who reportedly used fewer self-control skills. 80 women were selected as Ss on the basis of their scores on the Revised Restraint Scale (C. P. Herman, 1978) and the Self-Control Schedule (M. Rosenbaum (see record 1980-04499-001). A 2?×?2 design was used: Restraint (high, low)?×?Self-Control (high, low). Ss participated in the usual "preload?+? taste-test" restraint paradigm. Restrained eaters who reported high self-control skills disinhibited their eating significantly more (not less, as expected) than all other groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dietary restraint: Some current findings and speculations.

Reviews recent findings on the disinhibition of dietary restraint. Disinhibition induced by preloading depends more on the perception that the diet has been broken than on actual calorie content of the preload. Disinhibition can also result from emotional distress, with ego-threats more likely than physical fear to disinhibit eating. Low self-esteem dieters are more likely to become disinhibited than are high self-esteem dieters in response to both preloading and distress manipulations. Recent theoretical perspectives on disinhibition are examined and the possible role of self-awareness is highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of anxiety on eating: Does palatability moderate distress-induced overeating in dieters?

When confronted with an anxiety-producing threat to self-esteem, restrained eaters (dieters) increase their food consumption. The functional explanation suggests that increased eating temporarily counteracts or masks dysphoria for the restrained eater; externality or stimulus sensitivity theories propose that distress shifts the dieter's attention to external stimulus properties (e.g., taste) and to activities stimulated by such external cues. In an attempt to distinguish between these two explanations, anxious and nonanxious restrained and unrestrained eaters were given palatable and unpalatable foods, and consumption was measured. Results support the functional explanations: Distressed dieters increased their intake of food regardless of taste properties. Theoretical and practical implications for both restrained eating and the behavior of eating disorder patients are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Restrained eaters: Body weight, preloads, and private settings.

69 normal-weight and overweight female college students, classified as low- or high-restraint eaters, were preloaded, and subsequent eating was monitored in either a low- or a high-privacy setting. Setting was as strong a predictor of eating as was restraint status, and body weight was irrelevant as a predictor. No interactions emerged; the high-privacy setting disinhibited eating in most groups. It is speculated that many so-called restrained eaters show cognitions but not eating behaviors associated with restrained eating and that restraint theory fails to account for the complexity of disordered eating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Binge eating as a function of restraint and weight classification.

Attempted to replicate and expand the preliminary results of J. Polivy (1976), which showed a trend for low-restrained Ss to eat more when they thought they had eaten a low-calorie preload and high-restrained Ss to eat more when they thought they had consumed a high-calorie preload. The present study examined the amount of ice cream consumed by 20 underweight, 20 normal-weight, and 20 overweight college-age females after half had been told that they had previously drunk a very high-calorie drink and the other half had been instructed that the drink was very low calorie. The Ss were also divided by their score on an eating habits questionnaire into restrained (i.e., dieter) and unrestrained (i.e., nondieter) groups. Results show that those Ss who were restrained ate twice as much ice cream when they had been told that the preload drink was high calorie, as compared with the "told-low-calorie" condition. Research and therapeutic implications for weight-loss maintenance are discussed. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Restraint and internal responsiveness: Effects of placebo manipulations of hunger state on eating.

Restrained and unrestrained subjects were given a "vitamin" (placebo) prior to an ad-lib taste test. Subjects were either told nothing about the placebo or told that previous subjects had reported that the vitamin had made them feel either hungry or full. As predicted, restrained subjects, in two separate studies, behaved in accordance with placebo messages, eating more when given "hungry" messages than when given "full" messages. Unrestrained subjects showed an apparent reverse-placebo effect; they ate less ice cream when given "hungry" information than when given "full" information. Hunger ratings did not parallel eating behavior; possible explanations for this discrepancy are considered. We conclude that unresponsiveness to internal hunger state, and an overreliance on external cognitive cues, characterizes restrained but not unrestrained individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Restraint, anticipated consumption, and overeating.

Tested the influence of expected consumption and restraint on present consumption in 2 experiments, using 134 female undergraduates identified as restrained or unrestrained eaters. In Exp I, M. G. Lowe's (see record 1982-29817-001) hypothesis that anticipated deprivation increases food consumption, particularly among restrained eaters, was tested. Prior to a taste test, Ss expected either 24 hrs or 0 hrs of food deprivation. Deprivation did not influence consumption, but restraint did, with restrained eaters eating significantly more than did unrestrained eaters. In Exp II, the hypothesis that anticipated dietary violations disinhibit restrained eaters was tested. Cracker consumption was measured for Ss expecting a milkshake, a salad, or nothing before a 2nd cracker rating. Control Ss did not expect a 2nd rating. Restrained eaters ate significantly more than did unrestrained eaters, and the experimental conditions affected restrained and unrestrained eaters differently. When anticipating a milkshake, restrained eaters increased their consumption relative to control values, whereas unrestrained eaters decreased it. These responses to anticipated dietary violations parallel those following actual dietary transgressions. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of false weight feedback on mood, self-evaluation, and food intake in restrained and unrestrained eaters.

Restrained and unrestrained eaters were weighed 5 lb (2.27 kg) heavier or 5 lb lighter than their actual weight or were not weighed at all. Unrestrained eaters and restrained eaters who were told they weighed 5 lb less were not affected by the false weight feedback. However, restrained eaters who were informed that they weighed S lb more reported lower self-esteem, less positive moods, and more negative moods than did restrained eaters in the other 2 conditions. Furthermore, restrained eaters who were led to believe that they weighed heavier ate significantly more food during a subsequent "taste test" than did each of the other groups. Restrained eaters who believed that they were heavier experienced lowered self-worth and a worsening of mood that led them to relinquish their dietary restraint and overindulge in available food. lmplications for patients with eating disorders are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Restraint theory and its applicability to overweight individuals.

Tested several aspects of restraint theory using 89 female college students in a 2–3 between-Ss design. The ice cream consumption of overweight and normal-weight restrained and unrestrained eaters was measured during a taste test. Prior to the taste test, half the Ss received a milkshake preload. Results reveal significant Weight by Restraint, Weight by Preload, and Restraint by Preload interactions. Unrestrained eaters consumed less after the preload than without it, whereas restrained eaters ate more. Overweight Ss ate less after the preload than without it, whereas normal-weight Ss ate slightly more. Among overweight Ss, unrestrained eaters ate more than restrained eaters, whereas among normal-weight Ss, the reverse was true. The significant Weight by Preload and Restraint by Preload interactions possibly reflect psychometric problems in the restraint scale. Numerically equivalent scores may indicate less "true" restraint in overweight than in normal-weight Ss. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The specific psychopathology of bulimia nervosa: A comparison with restrained and unrestrained (normal) eaters.

The hypothesis that patients with bulimia nervosa and restrained eaters exist on a simple continuum of psychopathology was tested in 60 Ss (20 bulimics, 20 restrained eaters, 20 unrestrained eaters). Regarding measures related to dieting behavior and physical appearance, the restrained eaters differed significantly from unrestrained eaters and were similar to bulimic patients except for level of psychopathology. The restrained eaters could not be distinguished from the unrestrained eaters with regard to measures representing interoceptive perception, self-esteem, and fears about interpersonal relationships. On these traits, bulimic patients could be clearly distinguished from the normal Ss. The results support a 2-component model of the psychopathology of bulimia nervosa. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Restrained eating among adolescents: Dieters are not always bingers and bingers are not always dieters.

This study examined individual differences in the relationships among 3 constructs relevant to restrained eating theory—cognitive restraint (dieting), disinhibition (bingeing), and hunger. Participants were 421 adolescents (158 male, 255 female, and 8 not indicated). Comparisons among subgroups based on scores on the 3 constructs indicated that there were (a) 2 types of frequent dieters—those who follow theoretical predictions and become disinhibited and those who maintain their restraint; (b) 2 types of bingers—those who engage in dieting-induced bingeing and those who are hungry and disinhibited; and (c) 2 types of low-hunger eaters—those who suppress their hunger and those who eat before they experience much hunger. Implications of the results for restrained eating theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eating orientation, postcessation weight gain, and continued abstinence among female smokers receiving an unsolicited smoking cessation intervention.

Predictors of weight gain following smoking cessation were assessed among 1,219 female smokers enrolled in a health maintenance organization. Women randomized to the treatment group received a cessation intervention without regard to their interest in quitting smoking. It was hypothesized that cessation would result in subsequent weight gain and postcessation weight gain would be associated with scores on a modified Restraint Scale, the Disinhibition Scale, and a scale assessing tendency to eat during periods of negative affect. Persons who abstained from smoking over the 18-month study gained more weight than did intermittent smokers and continuous smokers, and among 762 women who reported at least 1 on-study attempt to quit smoking, 36% gained weight. Weight gain was associated with disinhibited eating and negative affect eating but not with restrained eating. Weight gain also was associated with continued abstinence from smoking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cell-associated pentosidine as a marker of aging in human diploid cells in vitro and in vivo

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.     

Don't mind if I do: Disinhibited eating under cognitive load.

Past research has shown that strong emotional or motivational states can cause normally restrained eaters to overeat. In this article it is argued that simple cognitive load can also disinhibit eating by restrained eaters. Two studies examined this disinhibition effect. In Study 1, restrained and unrestrained eaters were given the opportunity to consume high-calorie food while performing either a high cognitive-load or low cognitive-load task. Restrained eaters consumed more food when under high cognitive load than when under low cognitive load; unrestrained eaters showed the opposite pattern. Study 2 replicated the disinhibition effect and ruled out stress, diminished awareness of food consumption, and ironic rebound as probable mediators. Results suggest that cognitive load may disinhibit consumption by preventing restrained eaters from monitoring the dietary consequences of their eating behavior. Implications for theories of self-regulation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Restraint, dieting, and the continuum model of bulimia nervosa.

The authors evaluated the continuity model of bulimia nervosa, which suggests that bulimia results from extreme weight concern and dieting practices. Individuals with bulimia, current dieters, restrained nondieters, and unrestrained nondieters were compared on measures of general psychopathology, eating-disorder-specific psychopathology, and overeating. Multiple methods, including questionnaires, clinical interviews, and food records, were used to collect data. The continuity and discontinuity models were tested with trend and regression analyses. The results of most analyses were consistent with the continuity perspective. However, binge eating behavior exhibited a clear nonlinear trend, which occurred because binge eating was common in bulimic individuals but virtually nonexistent in the other 3 groups. Current dieters scored higher than restrained nondieters on restraint/weight concern, but not on psyhopathology or binge eating. Overall, the results suggest that "normal" dieting is associated with psychological, but not consummatory, symptoms of bulimia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dietary Restraint, Body Dissatisfaction, and Psychological Distress: A Prospective Analysis.

This study uses prospective data from a survey of 1,177 adolescent girls to examine whether emotional eating, binge eating, abnormal attitudes to eating and weight, low self-esteem, stress, and depression are associated with dietary restraint or body dissatisfaction. In analyses that included both restraint and body dissatisfaction as independent predictors, restraint was associated only with more negative attitudes to eating, whereas body dissatisfaction was significantly associated with all the adverse outcomes. These results cast doubt on the proposition that restrained eating is a primary cause of bulimic symptoms, emotional eating, and psychological distress seen in individuals who are trying to control their weight, and rather suggest that body dissatisfaction is the key factor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)