Effects of short-term food deprivation and chronic dietary restraint on the selective processing of appetitive-related cues.

OBJECTIVE

Selective processing of appetitive cues was investigated among food-deprived subjects and restrained eaters using the modified Stroop.

METHOD

Thirty-two university students (25 females, 7 males) were randomly assigned to a 6-hr food deprivation (FD) or a no food deprivation (NFD) condition. Subjects were also divided into three restrained eating groups-high (HR), moderate (MR), and low (LR)-according to Restraint Scale scores. Subjects color named sets of food, alcohol, and leisure control words. Stroop color-naming latencies were submitted to 2 x 3 (Food Deprivation Condition x Word Type) and 3 x 3 (Restrained Eating Group x Word Type) repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs).

RESULTS

Food deprivation failed to produce longer latencies for food or alcohol words relative to control words. However, HR status was associated with significantly longer latencies for both food and alcohol, relative to control, words.

DISCUSSION

Chronic dietary restraint but not short-term food deprivation was associated with selective processing of appetitive cues. The results have implications for understanding food preoccupation and risk for alcohol abuse in restrained eaters.