The Food Craving Questionnaire-Trait in a bariatric surgery seeking population and ability to predict post-surgery weight loss at six months.

Food cravings have been understudied in bariatric surgery patients and the Food Craving Questionnaire-Trait has not been validated in this population. Reliability and validity of the FCQ-T were examined and a regression analysis was run to determine whether or not preoperative scores on individual subscales of the instrument could predict weight loss at 6 months. The FCQ-T demonstrated excellent internal consistency in bariatric surgery-seeking patients, and individual subscales measuring emotion and mood were correlated with other measures of depression and anxiety. Endorsement of binge eating or emotional eating behaviors during a clinical interview was correlated with similar subscales on the FCQ-T. Higher scores on the subscale 'cues that may trigger food cravings' were associated with greater weight loss at 6 months post-surgery and higher scores on the subscale 'guilt from cravings and/or giving into them' was associated with less weight loss. Management of external cues may predict successful outcomes while emotional impact of cravings may indicate the need for further intervention to help manage specific food craving traits.

The effect of exercise absence on affect and body dissatisfaction as moderated by obligatory exercise beliefs and eating disordered beliefs and behaviors.

AIM: Research suggests that exercise absence is frequently associated with greater guilt and negative affect, particularly when obligatory exercise beliefs and eating disordered psychopathology are considered. Two separate studies used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine differences in mood on exercise and non-exercise days and the moderating impact of obligatory exercise beliefs and eating disordered beliefs and behaviors. METHOD: Both studies recruited female university students who endorsed frequent exercise behavior and study two also recruited based on level of eating disordered psychopathology. Participants completed the Obligatory Exercise Questionnaire at baseline and EMA measures of affect and exercise behavior for approximately one week. Study two participants also completed measures of body dissatisfaction and cognitions. RESULTS: Results of study one suggest that obligation to exercise appears to have a greater impact on general level of affect than does exercise absence or the interaction of these two. In addition, in study two, eating disorder symptomatology was significantly associated with affect and cognition while exercise absence and obligatory exercise beliefs were not. CONCLUSIONS: The present studies suggest that the absence of exercise is not associated with significant changes in affect or cognitions. However, obligation to exercise and eating disorder symptomatology do impact affect and cognitions.

The effects of exercise on body satisfaction and affect.

This research used ecological momentary assessment to examine the effects of exercise on state body dissatisfaction and affect in 33 undergraduate females with high trait body dissatisfaction and 28 with low trait body dissatisfaction who exercised at least three times weekly. Trait body dissatisfaction was investigated as a moderator of the effects of exercise as well as different motivations for exercise. Results indicated all participants experienced lower state body dissatisfaction and negative affect and greater positive affect post-exercise. Trait body dissatisfaction moderated the association between motivations and exercise effects. Appearance and weight motivations were related to higher state body dissatisfaction for all individuals. Fitness and health motivations were related to higher state body dissatisfaction for high trait body dissatisfied individuals and lower state body dissatisfaction for low trait body dissatisfied individuals. Thus, although exercise has positive effects on body dissatisfaction and affect for high frequency exercisers, their exercise motivations impact these effects.

Psychological correlates of fasting and vigorous exercise as compensatory strategies in undergraduate women.

Vigorous exercise and fasting are commonly used compensatory behaviors. However, it is unknown how non-clinical individuals who engage in one or both of these compensatory behaviors differ from one another. This research compared women who engaged in both fasting and vigorous exercise as compensatory strategies (n=76) with women who engaged in either fasting (n=56) or excessive exercise (n=82) and women who employed no compensatory strategies (n=113) on body image/eating and psychological symptomatology. Participants completed questionnaires assessing body dissatisfaction, restrained eating, thin-ideal internalization, depression, self-esteem, and general psychological distress. Women who utilize any compensatory strategies report significantly greater body dissatisfaction and restrained eating than women who use no compensatory strategies at all. Moreover, fasting as a compensatory behavior is associated with more significant psychological and behavioral symptoms than vigorous exercise as a compensatory behavior. Implications of these findings for clinical intervention and research are discussed.