Food cravings mediate the relationship between rigid, but not flexible control of eating behavior and dieting success

Adrian Meule; Joachim Westenhöfer; Andrea Kübler

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2011.07.013

Food cravings mediate the relationship between rigid, but not flexible control of eating behavior and dieting success

Appetite. 2011 Dec;57(3):582-4. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2011.07.013. Epub 2011 Jul 29.

Authors

Adrian Meule¹, Joachim Westenhöfer, Andrea Kübler

Affiliation

¹ Department of Psychology I, University of Würzburg, Marcusstr. 9-11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany. adrian.meule@uni-wuerzburg.de

PMID: 21824503
DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2011.07.013

Abstract

Both food cravings and rigid dietary control strategies have been implicated in low dieting success while flexible control often is associated with successful weight loss. An online survey was conducted (N=616) to test the mediational role of food cravings between dietary control strategies and self-perceived dieting success. Food cravings fully mediated the inverse relationship between rigid control and dieting success. Contrarily, flexible control predicted dieting success independently of food cravings, which were negatively associated with dieting success. Differential mechanisms underlie the relationship between rigid and flexible control of eating behavior and dieting success.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Body Mass Index
Choice Behavior*
Diet, Reducing / statistics & numerical data*
Feeding Behavior*
Female
Humans
Regression Analysis
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult