The reinforcing value of palatable snack foods and its relationship to subtypes of behavioural and self-report impulsivity.

Data collected over the last decade has begun to implicate behavioural impulsivity in overeating behaviour. However, recent work has suggested that the reinforcing value of food may be associated with impulsive choice (a sub-type of impulsivity), but to date no study has examined how the reinforcing value of food relates to other aspects of impulsivity. To examine these inter-relationships, 80 women completed measures of eating (a snack intake test and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire and then in a separate test session an inhibitory control task, a delay discounting task, a reflection impulsivity task, and a measure of the reinforcing value of their chosen snack foods. Participants also completed the Behavioural Inhibition System/Behavioural Activation System (BIS/BAS) questionnaire to examine self-report and behavioural parallels between measures. In regression models, only Behavioural Inhibition System subscales of the BIS/BAS predicted increased responding on the reinforcing value of food task. The reinforcing value of food task predicted and trended to predict calorie and grams intake of snack foods in regression models, supporting RRV as a predictive measure of short-term snack intake. Likewise, impulsive choice and inhibitory control was not related to eating measures. Methodological implications are discussed.

Brace A ，Yeomans MR 《-》

External eating mediates the relationship between impulsivity and unhealthy food intake.

Recent evidence from the eating domain shows a link between impulsivity and unhealthy food intake. However, the mechanism underlying this relationship remains unclear. One possibility is an external eating style, which has been linked to both impulsivity and food intake. The current study investigated the potential mediating role of external eating in the relationship between impulsivity and food intake. Participants were 146 undergraduate women who completed measures of impulsivity and external eating, and took part in a laboratory taste test as a behavioural index of unhealthy snack food intake. It was found that attentional and motor impulsivity interacted in predicting sweet food intake, but only motor impulsivity predicted both external eating and sweet food intake. Furthermore, the relationship between motor impulsivity and food intake was mediated by external eating. These findings support the development of interventions aimed at targeting specific aspects of impulsivity in order to reduce unhealthy eating behaviour.

Kakoschke N ，Kemps E ，Tiggemann M 《-》

The relative reinforcing value of snack food is a significant predictor of fat loss in women with overweight or obesity.

Hintze LJ ，Doucet É ，Goldfield GS 《-》

The relationships between eating disorder pathology and relative reinforcing value of food, delay discounting, and related constructs in adolescents.

Food is a primary reinforcer that motivates behavior in the absence of learning or conditioning. Both the relative reinforcing value (RRV) of food and delay discounting are associated with weight status. While dietary restraint and disinhibition have been shown to influence the RRV of food, limited work has examined the relationships between eating disorder pathology and RRV of food and delay discounting. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how eating disorder pathology predicts RRV of food, proportion of food consumed, delay discounting, reinforcement pathology (i.e., high motivation to eat and high delay discounting), and sensitization of high energy dense food (HED; i.e., increases in RRV of HED food after daily repeated exposure). Participants were 167 adolescents ages 12-14 without obesity participating in a longitudinal study examining predictors of weight change who completed a series of laboratory assessments assessing the RRV of food of HED food, delay discounting, reinforcement pathology, sensitization of HED food, and a questionnaire assessing eating disorder pathology. Eating disorder pathology was not related to the RRV of food or delay discounting, but did predict reinforcement pathology and the sensitization of HED food. When explored by weight status, these relationships were only observed for those with overweight. There were no other significant relationships for either adolescents with normal weight or overweight. Given that weight status appeared to moderate some of the relationships between eating disorder pathology and reinforcement-related constructs, future work should examine how reinforcement pathology and eating disorder pathology are related to changes in weight status over time.

Balantekin KN ，Ziegler AM ，Crandall AK ，Temple JL ... -  《-》

Interactive effects of impulsivity and dietary restraint over snack intake in children.

Impulsivity and dietary restraint have been found to interact to affect dietary intake in adults. Few studies have explored this effect in children. The current study therefore aimed to investigate the interactive effects of behavioural impulsivity and dietary restraint on intake. Fifty 7-11-year-olds participated in this laboratory-based study. Impulsivity was assessed through behavioural tasks measuring a number of impulsivity facets. Children self-reported dietary restraint. Children visited the lab and had access to a range of snack foods; intake was recorded. Hunger at arrival was assessed. A series of 2 x 2 between-subjects ANCOVAs indicated that motor impulsivity and dietary restraint interacted to affect intake. Reward sensitivity, delay of gratification and inhibitory control did not interact with dietary restraint. Post-hoc analyses indicated that children high in motor impulsivity and restraint ate significantly more snacks than restrained children low in motor impulsivity. Furthermore, children low in motor impulsivity but high in dietary restraint were better at inhibiting their intake than children low in impulsivity and dietary restraint. The results indicate that high levels of impulsivity or dietary restraint in isolation do not affect children's dietary intake but that their combination may lead to overeating in food rich environments.

Bennett C ，Blissett J 《-》