Naomi Kakoschke

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.

Approach bias modification training and consumption: A review of the literature.

Recent theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence have suggested that biased cognitive processing is an important contributor to unhealthy behaviour. Approach bias modification is a novel intervention in which approach biases for appetitive cues are modified. The current review of the literature aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of modifying approach bias for harmful consumption behaviours, including alcohol use, cigarette smoking, and unhealthy eating. Relevant publications were identified through a search of four electronic databases (PsycINFO, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect and Scopus) that were conducted between October and December 2015. Eligibility criteria included the use of a human adult sample, at least one session of avoidance training, and an outcome measure related to the behaviour of interest. The fifteen identified publications (comprising 18 individual studies) were coded on a number of characteristics, including consumption behaviour, participants, task, training and control conditions, number of training sessions and trials, outcome measure, and results. The results generally showed positive effects of approach-avoidance training, including reduced consumption behaviour in the laboratory, lower relapse rates, and improvements in self-reported measures of behaviour. Importantly, all studies (with one exception) that reported favourable consumption outcomes also demonstrated successful reduction of the approach bias for appetitive cues. Thus, the current review concluded that approach bias modification is effective for reducing both approach bias and unhealthy consumption behaviour.

The effect of combined avoidance and control training on implicit food evaluation and choice

BACKGROUND Continual exposure to food cues in the environment contributes to unhealthy eating behaviour. According to dual-process models, such behaviour is partly determined by automatic processing of unhealthy food cues (e.g., approach bias), which fails to be regulated by controlled processing (e.g., inhibitory control). The current study aimed to investigate the effect of combined avoidance and control training on implicit evaluation (liking), choice, and consumption of unhealthy snack food. METHOD Participants were 240 undergraduate women who were randomly allocated to one of four experimental conditions of a 2 (avoidance training: training versus control) x 2 (control training: training versus control) between-subjects design. RESULTS The combined training group had a more negative implicit evaluation of unhealthy food than either of the two training conditions alone or the control condition. In addition, participants trained to avoid unhealthy food cues subsequently made fewer unhealthy snack food choices. No significant group differences were found for food intake. LIMITATIONS Participants were women generally of a healthy weight. Overweight or obese individuals may derive greater benefit from combined training. CONCLUSIONS Results lend support to the theoretical predictions of dual-process models, as the combined training reduced implicit liking of unhealthy food. At a practical level, the findings have implications for the effectiveness of interventions targeting unhealthy eating behaviour.

What is the appropriate control condition for approach bias modification? A response to commentary by Becker et al. (2017)

• Becker et al. (2017) question the effectiveness of approach bias modification in the eating domain.

Differential effects of approach bias and eating style on unhealthy food consumption in overweight and normal weight women

Objective: The current study aimed to examine the effects of approach bias for unhealthy food and trait eating style on consumption of unhealthy food in overweight and normal weight individuals. Method: Participants were 245 undergraduate women aged 17 – 26 years. They completed an Approach–Avoidance Task, the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (to assess restrained, emotional, and external eating), and a taste test to measure consumption of unhealthy food. Results: An external eating style predicted increased consumption of unhealthy food. Among overweight participants, external and emotional eating style individually moderated the relationship between approach bias for unhealthy food and subsequent consumption. Specifically, approach bias was positively related to consumption in high external and emotional eaters, but negatively related to consumption in low emotional eaters. These interactions were not observed among normal weight participants. Conclusion: Practically, the results suggest that overweight individuals who are external or emotional eaters may benefit from interventions that aim to modify approach bias towards unhealthy food cues to reduce problematic eating behaviour.