Ice-cream consumption, tendency toward overeating, and personality.
OBJECTIVE
The exploration of the mechanisms underlying the tendency toward overeating by investigating the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ)/Revised Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI-R) disinhibition, in sequence to the milkshake-ice cream study (van Strien, Cleven, and Schippers, in press).


METHODS
In hierarchical multiple regression analyses, the relative predictive power for ice-cream consumption was assessed, that is, emotional versus external versus bulimic eating using scales of the DEBQ and the EDI-R. In nonplanned stepwise multiple regression analyses, the association was assessed between these three types of eating behaviors and non-eating-related EDI-R scales.


RESULTS
Emotional eating was the most important variable for ice-cream consumption. External eating was borderline significant and bulimic eating nonsignificant when emotional and external eating had been partialled out. Emotional eating was best predicted by the EDI-R scales Asceticism, Interoceptive Awareness, and Social Insecurity.


CONCLUSIONS
Results are consistent with psychosomatic theory, which focuses on emotional eating as the result of confusion and apprehension in recognizing and accurately responding to emotional and visceral states related to hunger and satiety.
van Strien
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Department of Clinical Psychology and Personality, University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002149:Energy Intake; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007054:Ice Cream; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires