Dimensions of Eating Behavior

Abstract

According to the Centers for Disease Control (2019), over the past two decades, the U.S has increased from 30.5% to an all-time high in 2018 of 40% obesity rate. Understanding eating behaviors may help us understand the increased obesity rates and contribute to future interventions in public health. The dimensions of eating that have received the most attention include cognitive restraint, disinhibition, susceptibility to food/ hunger cues, and subsequently, loss of control of eating. While dimensions of eating have been studied separately, the purpose of this study was to examine all these dimensions of eating together. An online participant pool recruiting program (SONA) was used with 287 SUNY Brockport undergraduate students taking an Introductory Psychology course (PSH 110). Participants completed four online questionnaires: a background questionnaire, the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ; Stunkard & Messick, 1985), the Revised Restraint Questionnaire (RRQ; Herman et al., 1978), and the Eating Loss of Control Scale (ELOCS; Blomquist et al., 2014). The hypotheses of the study were as follows: 1) RRQ and TFEQ-Restraint subscale scores were expected to be negatively correlated with ELOCS scores. 2) TFEQ-Disinhibition subscale and TFEQ-Hunger subscale scores were expected to be positively correlated with scores on the ELOCS. 3) BMI was expected to be positively correlated with TFEQ-Disinhibition subscale scores, TFEQ-Hunger subscale scores, and ELOCS scores, and negatively correlated with TFEQ-Restraint subscale scores and the RRQ. To test each hypothesis, Pearson correlations were conducted. The RRQ and TFEQ-Restraint subscale were positively correlated with the ELOCS and BMI and suggests higher restraint may lead to higher loss of control which is consistent with existing literature on binge eaters (Spoor et al., 2006). BMI was positively correlated to RRQ and TFEQ- Restraint subscale suggesting that those who are overweight may be more likely to restrict food intake for weight loss.