Bulimics' responses to food cravings: is binge-eating a product of hunger or emotional state?
This study examined the roles of hunger, food craving and mood in the binge-eating episodes of bulimic patients, and identified the critical factors involved in the processes surrounding binge-eating episodes that follow cravings. This was a prospective study of the binge-eating behaviour of 15 women with bulimia nervosa. The participants used food intake diaries and Craving Records to self-monitor their nutritional behaviour, hunger levels and affective state. Cravings leading to a binge were associated with higher tension, lower mood and lower hunger than those cravings not leading to a binge. Levels of tension and hunger were the critical discriminating variables. The findings of the study support empirical evidence and models of emotional blocking in binge-eating behaviour and challenge the current cognitive starve-binge models of bulimia. The role of food cravings in the emotional blocking model is discussed in terms of a classically conditioned motivational state. Implications for treatment are addressed.
Waters
A
A
Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Highfield, UK. ajw5@psy.soton.ac.uk
Hill
A
A
Waller
G
G
D000328:Adult; D001066:Appetite; D001143:Arousal; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D004435:Eating; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D007389:Internal-External Control; D009042:Motivation; D011446:Prospective Studies