The aim of this thesis was to examine the affective and cognitive disturbance associated with weight-loss dieting. We were particularly interested in how mood might interact with dietary restraint to produce cognitive deficit. Initially dieting was investigated in a community sample of overweight dieters. Affect was assessed by self-reported feelings of positive and negative mood (PANAS) and general psychological well-being (Ryff s PWB). Cognitive performance was assessed using a battery of computer administered tasks that measured speed to respond to a target stimulus; immediate memory recall; working memory capacity; vigilance (Bakan task); attentional distraction for food related stimuli (Stroop task); and, preference for food and body-shape related stimuli (Implicit Association Test). In replication of previous studies (e. g. Green, Rogers, Elliman, & Gatenby, 1994), dieting was found to be related to cognitive deficit. The same dieters were also found to be more neurotic and to have greater levels of affective disturbance compared to non-dieters. Contrary to expectation, restraint per se could not account for the dieter-non-dieter differences found. Further, differences in cognitive performance could not be explained as directly due to dieter-non-dieter differences in BMI, hunger, preoccupation, attentional bias or mood. Rather, it was the tendency to eat when emotional which best identified those dieters most vulnerable to cognitive and affective disturbance. Further investigation revealed that under conditions of high negative mood, tendency towards emotional eating was associated with an increase in preference for food related stimuli, and a decrease in attentional capacity. Accordingly, it was proposed that under dieting conditions, where opportunity for affective disturbance is increased, cognitive deficit is most likely to occur in the high emotional eater because they are highly sensitive to affective disturbance, and for them such disturbance results in preferential allocation of attentional resources to food and eating related cognitions. Further research is needed to fully examine the psychological profile of the individual with high tendency towards emotional eating. This issue is of particular importance given the additional finding that the tendency to consume when emotional is not context-bound but can also be observed in other behavioural domains, such as "emotional spending" on other consumer goods.

Thesis (PlanA)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-176). Also available via the Internet.

No description available.

Questionnaires were constructed to measure dieter's beliefs in their abilities to (1) adhere to a diet in eating situations, (2) perform various dieting behaviors, and (3) reach their dieting goals. The three questionnaires were called the Situation-, Behavior-, and Goal-Based Dieting Self-Efficacy Scales. / Preliminary work examined the reliability of the three scales. The Situtation-Based scale demonstrated a high level of test-retest reliability over a two to four week period in the two college samples. Examination of scale intercorrelations in the clinical sample indicated that the scales were correlated at only a low level, suggesting that the scales measure different aspects of the construct of dieting self-efficacy. / Results of the laboratory studies demonstrated that the Situation-Based scale was a significant predictor of how much dieters ate in response to two different types of challenges to their diets, high calorie preloads and a depressed mood induction. / The ability of the three scales to predict weight changes was examined in the clinical sample. Only the Goal-Based scale was found to predict weight change. / In summary, the present study adds to the body of literature supporting goal-based dieting self-efficacy as a significant predictor of weight change during dieting attempts. Suggestions were offered about ways to apply this finding to clinical practice, in the areas of patient selection and treatment prescription. / The present research was limited in the following ways. The laboratory studies were limited by the narrow range of subjects, and the artificiality of the eating situation. Future research should extend this finding with other populations, as well as methodologies for examining the relation between dieting self-efficacy and eating in real-life situations. The clinical study was limited by the absence of a follow-up assessment. Future research must examine the ability of dieting self-efficacy to predict weight change over longer periods of time. Finally, suggestions were made concerning the importance of future research attempting to clarify the construct of dieting self-efficacy, particularly research aimed at determining the relation between responses to these questionnaires and the actual cognitive processes engaged in by dieters in eating situations, and over the course of their weight control efforts. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

No description available.

No description available.

Graduation date: 1994

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ed.D.) -- Teachers College, Columbia University, 1991. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Marilyn Rawnsley. Dissertation Committee: Elizabeth Tucker. Includes bibliographical references: (leaves 187-199).