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Despite that disordered eating has been repeatedly associated with perfectionism, the results are inconsistent as to which exact dimensions of perfectionism it is related to. Moreover, the increasing evidence that perfectionism is best conceptualized as a domain-specific, as opposed to a global, trait contribute to the lack of clarity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine which dimensions of global and physical appearance perfectionism statistically predict disordered dieting in a non-clinical adult female sample. In total 437 participants completed the Short Almost Perfect Scale, which distinguishes between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism, the Physical Appearance Perfectionism Scale, which distinguishes between hope for perfection and worry about imperfection, and the Dieting subscale of the Eating Attitudes Test-26. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that only maladaptive, as opposed to adaptive, global perfectionism statistically predicted disordered dieting. Furthermore, both dimensions of physical appearance perfectionism statistically predicted disordered dieting, although worry about imperfection, its maladaptive dimension, was the strongest statistical predictor. The present results demonstrate that worry about imperfection is an effective statistical predictor of disordered dieting among women, possibly serving as a starting point for further research investigating the utility of its incorporation in prevention and treatment protocols for disordered eating., Author(s): Diana Czepiel [sup.1] , Hendricus M. Koopman [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.5132.5, 0000 0001 2312 1970, Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, , Wassenaarseweg 52, [...]

Past research has demonstrated mixed findings on attentional biases toward food and body words among non-clinical restrained eaters (Brooks, S., Prince, A., Stahl, D., Campbell, I. C., & Treasure, J. (2011). A systematic review and meta-analysis of cognitive bias to food stimuli in people with disordered eating behavior. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(1), 37-151. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.09.006; Dobson, K. S., & Dozois, D. J. (2004). Attentional biases in eating disorders: A meta-analytic review of Stroop performance. Clinical Psychology Review, 23(8), 1001-1022. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2003.09.004; Francis, J. A., Stewart, S. H., & Hounsell, S. (1997). Dietary restraint and the selective processing of forbidden and nonforbidden food words. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 21(6), 633-646. doi:10.1023/A:1021804207132). Addressing previous methodological issues, this study examined college female restrained eaters' attentional bias to food words. We used 120 college females - 20 were classified as restrained eaters by the Restrained Eating subscale of Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (Van Strien, T., Frijters, J. E., Bergers, G. P., & Defares, P. B. (1986). The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) for assessment of restrained, emotional, and external eating behavior. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 5(2), 295-315. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/1098-108X(198602)5:23.0.CO;2-T). Using a computer-based program called MouseTracker for a Stroop test (Freeman, J. B., & Ambady, N. (2010). MouseTracker: Software for studying real-time mental processing using a computer mouse-tracking method. Behavior Research Methods, 42(1), 226-241. doi:10.3758/BRM.42.1.226), attentional bias indicators of both process (i.e., what happens while attention is captured and directed; Area under the Curve and Maximum Deviation) and outcome (i.e., the end results of attention captured by certain stimuli; Reaction Time and Percentage of Errors) were measured to forbidden (i.e., unhealthy) and unforbidden (i.e., healthy) food words over animal words (i.e., used as control condition). Word stimuli were matched on frequency and syllables between conditions (Francis, J. A., Stewart, S. H., & Hounsell, S. (1997). Dietary restraint and the selective processing of forbidden and nonforbidden food words. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 21(6), 633-646. doi:10.1023/A:1021804207132). No evidence of attentional bias to food words was found among non-clinical restrained eaters. Based on the results in the current study, non-clinical restrained eaters with no accompanying overeating may not show attentional bias to food words. Future studies could compare clinical and non-clinical restrained eaters with and without overeating symptoms on attentional bias to food versus body stimuli., Author(s): Brandon Hodge [sup.1] , Suejung Han [sup.1] , Dawn M. McBride [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.257310.2, 0000 0004 1936 8825, Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, , Campus box [...]

This paper extends a previous qualitative research on female yo-yo dieters/weight cyclers in the UK. Out of nine participants in the previous study, this investigation has made use of feminist perspectives to further analyze the data of four participants that was previously derived via thematic analysis. Feminist analysis revealed that initiation of frequent dieting episodes is not merely to lose weight; rather complex control and identity issues as well as negative emotions play a role in triggering yo-yo dieting in some women. Furthermore, the similarity of these manifestations to eating disorders is discussed. Key Words: Feminist Perspectives, Yo-Yo Dieting, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Control and Identity Issues, Power Struggle, Qualitative Methodology, Introduction 'I wish that compulsive eating, bingeing, dieting, throwing up, and starving were oddities rather than the routine experiences of so many years and women today' (Orbach: 1997: vii). Almost [...]

Background/Objectives: The relationship between food craving and dieting is mixed and uncertain, with little evidence during active weight management. Accordingly, the frequency and nature of food cravings were investigated in people attending a commercial weight management programme. Subjects/Methods: An online survey was completed by 2932 participants (97% female, mean age=43.0 years, mean body mass index=31.6 kg/m[sup.2]). Assessments included the Control of Eating Questionnaire, measuring the frequency, intensity, specificity and behaviour following food cravings. Others included body weight, dietary restraint, perceived success of dieting and mood. Forty-two per cent of the sample completed a second survey 7 weeks later. Results: Cross-sectional analysis showed those currently dieting to lose weight (55% of sample) had significantly fewer, less intense and more resisted food cravings than those watching what they ate so as not to gain weight (35% of sample). Cravings were fewer for chocolate and other sweet foods. Longitudinally, food cravings decreased over the period of weight loss (2.0 kg). Fewer foods were craved and the cravings were less intense, easier to resist and to control. Eating in response to food cravings was a significant predictor of weight change. Conclusions: People with obesity and recent experience of resisting eating in response to food cravings lost more weight over the next 7 weeks. Feeling in control of eating was also associated with greater weight loss. This suggests it is the behaviour that follows food cravings rather than simply their frequency or intensity that contributes to successful weight management. This has implications for interventions to help address food cravings. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2017) 71, 625-630; doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2016.235; published online 14 December 2016, Author(s): E F Smithson [1]; A J Hill [1] Introduction There is sustained interest in the relationship between dieting, weight management and food cravings.[sup.[1, 2, 3]] The assumption that cravings [...]

Four studies were conducted to test whether five dietary restraint scales showed inverse correlations with directly viewed caloric intake. Results suggest that dietary restraint scales may not be valid measures of moderate- to long term dietary restriction.

The article describes a 20-year longitudinal study of body weight, dieting, and disordered eating in women and men. Body weight increased significantly over time in both women and men. However, women's weight perception and dieting frequency decreased over time, whereas men's weight perception and dieting frequency increased, and disordered eating declined more in women than in men from late adolescence to midlife. In both women and men, changes in weight perception and dieting frequency were associated with changes in disordered eating. In addition, adult roles such as marriage and parenthood were associated with significant decreases in disordered eating from late adolescence to midlife in women, whereas few associations were observed in men. Despite different developmental trajectories, women demonstrated more weight dissatisfaction, dieting, and disordered eating compared with men across the period of observation. Keywords: eating disorders, bulimia, longitudinal study, gender differences, dieting

The clinical and psychosocial characteristics of 239 dieting and nondieting adolescents (61% female; mean age = 15.3) recruited from an inpatient psychiatric setting were examined. Dieting adolescents were compared to nondieting adolescents on exercise frequency, weight control behaviors, risky behaviors, psychiatric comorbidity and distress, eating disorder symptomatology, smoking, coping, and family factors. While dieters did not statistically differ from nondieters on scores of body mass index, dieting youth reported greater levels of self-reported distress, poorer coping, greater eating disorder symptomatology, and were more likely to engage in extreme weight control behaviors. In addition, dieting was associated with higher rates of major depression (58% vs 34%) and eating disorders (14% vs 1%). Among adolescent smokers, dieters endorsed smoking as a weight control behavior. Engaging in risky behaviors or familial factors did not differentiate dieters from nondieters. Given the number of negative correlates associated with dieting in adolescents, identifying dieting and weight control behaviors in clinical settings may prove to be an effective strategy in the development of prevention and intervention efforts for youth. KEY WORDS: adolescents; dieting; inpatient; psychiatric disorders; eating behavior.

Peer and media influences have been identified as important conveyors of socio-cultural ideals in adolescent and preadolescent samples. This study aims to explore peer and media influences in the body image concerns and dieting awareness of younger girls, aged 5-8 years. A sample of 128 girls was recruited from the first 4 years of formal schooling. Individual interviews were conducted to assess the aspects of body image, as well as dieting awareness by means of a brief scenario. A number of sources of peer and media influence were examined. It was found that by 6 years of age, a large number of girls desired a thinner ideal figure. Both peer and media influences emerged as significant predictors of body image and dieting awareness. Specifically, girls' perceptions of their peers' body dissatisfaction predicted their own level of body dissatisfaction and dieting awareness. Watching music television shows and reading appearance-focused magazines predicted dieting awareness. In particular, girls who looked at magazines aimed at adult women had greater dissatisfaction with their appearance. Thus, the present study highlights that girls aged 5-8 years of age are already living in an appearance culture in which both peers and the media influence body image and dieting awareness. KEYWORDS: body image; dieting awareness; socio-cultural influences; young children.

Much of the research on relapse crises in dieting has focused on isolated lapse events and relied heavily on retrospective self-report data. The present study sought to overcome these limitations by using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) techniques to examine situations of dietary temptation and lapse with a sample of obese, formerly sedentary, postmenopausal women (N = 37) during the final week of a weight-loss intervention. Mood was associated with reports of dietary lapse. Abstinence-violation effects were more strongly associated with dietary lapses than temptations. Finally, coping responses distinguished dietary temptations from lapses. Education on the factors associated with relapse crises in dieting may be imperative for weight loss success and maintenance.

Although it is widely accepted that dieting increases the risk for bulimic pathology, this hypothesis has not been tested in a randomized experiment. Accordingly, the authors conducted an experimental test of the dietary restraint model by randomly assigning nonobese women (N = 82) to either a 6-week, low-calorie diet or a waitlist control condition. The diet intervention resulted in significant weight loss, confirming that dieting was successfully manipulated. Contrary to the restraint model, dieting resulted in significant decreases in bulimic symptoms relative to the control condition. Results converge with past findings from randomized obesity prevention and treatment trials and provide evidence that dieting does not promote bulimic pathology; rather, effective decreases in caloric intake appear to reduce bulimic symptoms.

Recent research reports a link between diet-related behavior and alcohol abuse among women, but fails to explain this relationship. In the present study, a grounded theory approach is used to explore the link between diet-related behavior, body image, and alcohol use among a sample of college students. In the feminist tradition of 'giving voice,' 78 college students participated in semi-structured, face-to-face interviews to generate insight into the socio-cultural practice of diet behavior and its association with alcohol use. Four specific categories of diet-related behaviors in the context of alcohol use emerged. Students reported altering their eating and drinking patterns, self-induced purging, or exercising to stave off unwanted weight gain believed to be caused by alcohol use. These categories are useful for understanding the alcohol-use and diet-related behavior associations reported in previous studies. Results suggest drinking behavior among some college students is perhaps mutually influenced by socio-cultural pressures to conform both to body-image norms and to drinking norms. Interventions to reduce college alcohol use and the social consequences that accompany such behavior may need to take into account these social and psychological factors.

Research indicates that reducing diets may be a useful tool in somatic risk factor control for patients with psychologically driven obesity, and that patients with better sociability and a higher degree of nervousness may lose more weight than their counterparts who do not possess these traits.

Waist-to-hip ratios are used as a gauge of women's responses to reducing diets and before-and-after body shapes. Findings suggest that women with a high waist-to-hip ratio may have difficulty adhering to diets because the desired shape change does not occur. Implications for research in evolutionary psychology are discussed.

A new study investigates the links between dieting and eating disorders, focusing on the development of bulimia nervosa.

Issues are presented concerning a study of the eating habits of 1,271 adolescent schoolgirls in Saudi Arabia. The correlation which was found between eating disorders and exposure to Western culture is discussed.

Issues are presented concerning the effects of parental pressure and peer influence on 62 never dieters and 62 initiating dieters who are adolescent girls. The role of the perceived supportiveness of fathers is discussed.

Issues are presented concerning the emergence of dieting among 478 adolescent girls over a 2-year period. The commencement of dieting was not associated with higher body mass index but could be triggered by concerns following body shape changes.

Research presented concerns the relationship between lowered essential fatty acid intake and depression. Findings suggest that imbalances in essential fatty acids can result from dieting, and lower blood cholesterol levels may contribute to increased depressive symptoms.

Research in four stages of change shows how each affects women's weight loss. Reduced weight was successively greater for Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation and Action stages.

This article reviews the literature on the psychological consequences of dieting. In particular, the authors examine the impact of dieting on mood, self-esteem, cognition, and eating behavior. The famous Keys study of starvation is discussed in relation to impaired concentration, food preoccupation, negative affect, and binge eating behavior. Overall, the literature indicates that dieting has a negative impact on psychological well-being. As a result, alternative nondieting approaches toward eating are presented and recommended to promote psychological health.

There is continued confusion, both conceptually and psychometrically, of two different forms of confounding of success and failure in the measurement of restrained dieting. New research in this area has sought to distinguish two different types of confounding of success and failure in restraint scores. The Restraint Scale has been found to have good validity for the selection of dieters with a high tendency toward disinhibition of restraint. The restraint scales of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire and the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire have been shown to give good validity in relation to various measures of intake of food.

The impact of dieting on the motivation of women to start and continue smoking as well as the weight gain achieved after smoking cessation were investigated. A survey was conducted involving 220 female undergraduate students to determine whether concerns about weight gain would prevent women from quitting their smoking habits. Results show that dieting women who were former smokers gained more weight than their nondieting counterparts. Dieters were also more likely to initiate and continue smoking to control their weight.

Visual food cues influenced the self-control of six adult human female dieters. Nine non-dieters were not influenced by the visual food cues. Results indicate that hunger has an effect on self-control. The cephalic phase hypothesis may explain the decrease in self-control. The hypothesis states that food cues increase insulin levels, which decrease blood sugar and increase hunger.

The continuum model of bulimia nervosa suggests that dieting plays a major role in the etiology and maintenance of bulimia. However, a previous study (M. R. Lowe et al., 1996) recently found no relationship between dieting intensity and binge eating problems in nonclinical participants differing widely in eating and weight concerns. The present study extended these findings by examining the relationship between dieting and bingeing among individuals with bulimia. Three samples of individuals diagnosed with bulimia were divided into frequent and infrequent weight-loss dieters and were compared on multiple measures of binge eating. No diet-binge relationship was found in 1 sample, whereas in the other 2 samples frequent dieters binged less than infrequent dieters. These results raise new questions about the continuum model of bulimia and suggest that weight-loss dieting may not play as prominent a role in the maintenance of bulimia as it does in its initiation.

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 5 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. Implications for patients with eating disorders are discussed.

A study on bulimia nervosa (BN) is conducted to examine whether dieting is the precursor to the development of binge eating. Culled from retrospective self-reports from women participating in two BN treatment studies, data showed that binge eating prior to dieting onset was associated with earlier age of onset of binge eating, later onset of purging, increased desired weight, and increased actual weight. Binge eating prior to dieting onset was likewise associated with improved response to group cognitive-behavioral treatment. These suggest that dieting is a risk factor, but not necessarily a precursor, to the development of binge eating in BN.

The noted co-occurrence between depression and eating problems in women may be due to their common association with negative body image. Specifically, the western cultural ideal that equates feminine beauty with thinness leads a large number of women to be dissatisfied with their bodies. A recent model [M. McCarthy (1990) 'The Thin Ideal, Depression, and Eating Disorders in Women,' Behavioral Research and Therapy, Vol. 28, pp. 205-2157 suggests that this dissatisfaction, couple with high importance placed on appearance, leads most women to engage in dieting to obtain this level of thinness. As dieting is typically unsuccessful as a means of long-term weight control, depression will result from the sense of failure and helplessness associated with dieting failure. This depression then leads to increasingly maladaptive eating behaviors that serve to assuage negative affect and regain control over body appearance. In a sample of 234 male and female, predominantly white, 17-22-year-old college students, we examined several components of this model, including the specificity of these relations for women. In accordance with the model, depressive symptoms and eating problems were predicted to be an interactive function of body image and body image importance, with negative body image/high importance subjects showing the greatest disturbance. In addition, we examined several components of the model to determine (a) the relation between failed dieting and depression, and (b) the extent to which depression could account for eating problems. Regardless of gender, eating problems were indeed highest among those with both negative body image and high body image importance. Depression, however, was higher in subjects with negative body image, regardless of body image importance. For both men and women, failed dieting was significantly related to depression, but only for women did depression account for significant variability in eating problems. Validity of the model is considered. Gender differences in the nature of these relations, and the need to consider possible alternative effects of the cultural standard for masculine attractiveness, are discussed.

A study conducted on 186 students of Grades 3 to 6 and 290 students of Grades 7 to 11 from schools in Jerusalem revealed that girls were more preoccupied with dieting when compared to the boys. The weight consciousness increased in girls and decreased in boys as they became older. The study indicated that the desire to lose weight started very early in both sexes, however by the eighth grade, girls are more concerned with thinness than are boys.

The principal aim of this study was to examine the factor structure of several assessment methods used to measure dietary restraint, body dissatisfaction, and body image. Factor analysis was employed to identify and confirm the primary constructs measured by these assessment methods. A total of 206 undergraduate women were recruited as subjects. This sample was divided into two subsets of 100 and 106 subjects. On the first subset, principle components analysis identified three factors: body dysphoria, dietary restraint, and body image. With the second subset of subjects, confirmatory factor analysis cross-validated this factor structure. A two factor solution, body dysphoria and dietary restraint, was identified and confirmed when the body image measure was converted to a self-minus-ideal discrepancy score. These findings are discussed in relation to the definition of control groups to be used in studies of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Guidelines for the selection of measures for each of the three factors also are presented.

Chronic dieting is likely to produce temporary mood swings and weight loss and gain, but no permanent change. When dieters restrict food intake and later violate those restrictions, they will eat more than they would normally. Restrictions may also bring about eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia.

Diet-induced disorders can be prevented if negative attitudes that focus on eating and the body are modified through group discussions. Discussing the methods of developing a more positive body image among women helps develop a positive attitude. Perceptions of body and intentions of dieting can be changed by developing positive attitudes keeping the ideal weight the same.

I review and critique restraint theory and develop a 3-factor model of dieting behavior. The factors - frequency of dieting and overeating, current dieting, and weight suppression - are embedded within a 3-dimensional grid that also considers mechanisms mediating the effects of dieting and the influence of weight status. I argue that the eating behavior exhibited by restrained eaters stems from their frequent dieting and overeating in the past rather than from their current state of dietary or cognitive restraint. Evidence is reviewed, indicating that current dieting and weight suppression have different effects on eating than does restraint. The 3-factor model is used to reinterpret findings consistent with restraint theory and to explain findings inconsistent with restraint theory. Finally, clinical and research implications of the 3-factor model are discussed.