Cognitive interference due to food cues in childhood obesity.
Investigated specific information-processing biases for food-relevant stimuli in 34 children, Mage = 13 years, SD = 2 years, M = 177% of ideal weight, SD = 24%, who were completing a residential cognitive-behavioral treatment program for severe obesity and 40 matched control children who were not obese, Mage = 13 years, SD = 2 years, M = 103% of ideal weight, SD = 13%. Participants completed a computerized modified Stroop task, which included food words, negative-emotion words, and control words. Results indicated that children in the obesity group displayed a specific interference effect for food words. It is hypothesized that the observed bias in information processing reflects hypersensitivity for food cues, which can initiate or maintain dysfunctional eating behavior.
Braet
Caroline
C
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium. Caroline.Braet@rug.ac.be
Crombez
Geert
G
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D004644:Emotions; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*