ABSTRACT
This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of a modified Stroop test as a method of inducing ego-threatening stress in dieters. Twenty females completed a Stroop task and watched a fearful film, and then consumed ice cream, ad libitum, under the guise of a tasting-test. It was predicted that the Stroop task would trigger greater consumption of ice cream than a fearful film, and that this effect would be more pronounced for binge-eaters than non-binge-eaters. More ice cream was consumed following the Stroop task, however both binge-eaters and non-binge-eaters consumed more ice cream after the Stroop task than the film-task. This data suggests that the ego-threatening Stroop test has potential as a standardized method for use in studies of stress-induced eating.
Subject(s)
Bulimia/psychology , Eating/psychology , Ego , Stress, Psychological , Adolescent , Adult , Emotions , Feeding Behavior , Female , Humans , Ice Cream , Stress, Psychological/etiologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the developmental onset of the Stroop interference effect for food and body shape words in 12- and 14-year-old females to determine whether dietary restraint and eating psychopathology influenced Stroop performance times. METHOD: A Stroop task containing neutral, food, and body shape-related words was administered to 152 schoolgirls. Participants completed the restraint scale of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire and the Drive for Thinness (DFT) subscale of the Eating Disorders Inventory. RESULTS: Significant color-naming impairments were observed for food-related words in 12- and 14-year-olds, in 14-year-old restrained eaters, and in 12-year-old unrestrained eaters. There were no significant differences between restrained and unrestrained eaters in either age group. Participants scoring high on the DFT subscale showed significant impairments for food-related words, but did not differ significantly from those scoring low on the DFT. There were no significant impairments in color-naming body shape-related words in any subgroups. DISCUSSION: This study did not confirm a different developmental onset for the food and body shape Stroop interference effect. Consideration of dietary restraint did add clarity to previously observed food-related interference effects in both age groups. The results for high- and low-DFT participants do not support the use of the eating-related Stroop tests as an early objective indicator of eating psychopathology.
Subject(s)
Body Constitution , Child Development , Color , Feeding and Eating Disorders/diagnosis , Feeding and Eating Disorders/psychology , Food , Inhibition, Psychological , Names , Psychology, Adolescent , Psychology, Child , Psychomotor Performance , Adolescent , Age of Onset , Child , Drive , Female , Humans , Internal-External Control , Personality Inventory , Predictive Value of Tests , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Reaction Time , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
This article reports alternative findings from a pilot study to those presented recently (Strong GF, Huon KG. J. Psychosom. Res., 1998; 44:315-326) in regard to the proposed model of sociopsychological processes involved in the initiation of dieting among young adolescent girls. One hundred thirteen female high school pupils completed a battery of questionnaires that assessed dieting status, dietary restraint, autonomous functioning, skill-related functioning, social influence, and family functioning. The results indicate that family functioning predicts dietary restraint but that this effect is mediated by peer influence to diet. Furthermore, family functioning was associated with autonomous functioning, suggesting that this relationship should be pursued in a future test of the model. This pattern of results is different from an earlier test of the model, which indicated only a parental influence on dieting status. The results confirm that peer influences should be retained as a causal factor in a reformulated structural model.
