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Initial evaluation of a single-item screener to assess problematic dietary restriction

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Existing measures to assess restrictive eating conflate both problematic and healthy restrictive practices, and perceived restriction without reduced caloric intake. In this study, we devised and tested the utility of a single-item screener, the Dietary Restriction Screener (DRS), to assess problematic restriction.

Methods

94 individuals completed the DRS and measures assessing eating disorder symptoms, preoccupations, and rituals. Participants were given access to an ad libitum single-item test snack. Linear regressions were conducted to evaluate whether the DRS predicted eating disorder symptoms and snack intake after controlling for relevant covariates and a commonly used restraint scale.

Results

The DRS significantly predicted eating disorder symptoms (p < 0.001), preoccupations (p < 0.001), rituals (p = 0.001), and snack intake (p = 0.017) above covariates and an existing restraint scale.

Conclusions

The DRS may offer added utility in predicting problematic dietary restriction over existing measures and is beneficial due to its brevity and low burden.

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Notes

  1. This and the following regressions were repeated using only scores from the avoidance of eating item of the EDE-R, rather than the full scale, since it could be argued that the avoidance of eating item is designed specifically to capture restriction, while the EDE-R measures other constructs as well. However, regression results did not differ using this methodology. Therefore, only results using the EDE-R are reported.

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Acknowledgments

Research reported in this publication was partially supported by a pre-doctoral training fellowship awarded to Ann Haynos by the National Institute of Mental Health under Award Number F31MH097450. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Correspondence to Ann F. Haynos.

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Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 16 kb)

Appendix: Dietary restriction screener

Appendix: Dietary restriction screener

We are interested in assessing restrictive eating. Restrictive eating occurs any time you intentionally eat less than seems appropriate for the situation out of concern for your body shape and/or weight. I am going to give you a few examples of what I mean by restrictive eating.

  • Restrictive eating can mean eating an amount of food that most others would think is too little. For example, eating an apple for dinner or fasting all day could be considered restrictive eating.

  • Restrictive eating can mean eating far less than others in a similar situation. For example, eating a diet frozen meal at Thanksgiving dinner with family could be considered restrictive eating.

  • Restrictive eating can mean eating less than is appropriate for your body size or hunger level. For example, if you are very hungry or are underweight and you eat only a small salad for dinner, this could be considered restrictive eating.

Have there been any times within the past month when you have eaten in this manner because you were concerned about your body shape and/or weight?

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Haynos, A.F., Fruzzetti, A.E. Initial evaluation of a single-item screener to assess problematic dietary restriction. Eat Weight Disord 20, 405–413 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-014-0161-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-014-0161-0

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