Worry as an Inhibitor of Dietary Restraint

Abstract

Previous researchers have identified disinhibiting agents of restrained eating such as the ingestion of preloads, alcohol consumption, and negative affect. This study investigated worry as a purely cognitive inhibitor of dietary restraint. Seventy-five subjects who were screened as being high worriers and high restrainers were randomly assigned to three groups: eating-related worry; social-evaluative/school-related worry; non-worry. Subjects were induced to either worry or to think pleasant thoughts, and then take part in a bogus taste-test. Food consumption in worry-prone, chronic dieters was found to be triggered more by social-evaluative/school-related worries than by eating-related worries, or pleasant thoughts. Chronic dieting and worrying were found to be substantially related to measures of bulimic tendencies and trait anxiety, respectively. These findings may be germane to behaviour change programmes pertaining to bulimia.