title: Slowing down and taking a second look: Inhibitory deficits associated with binge eating are not food-specific.
abstract: Poor inhibitory control may contribute to the maintenance of binge eating (BE) among overweight and obese individuals. However, it is unknown whether deficits are general or specific to food (versus other attractive non-food stimuli), or whether observed deficits are attributable to increased depressive symptoms in BE groups. In the current study, we hypothesized that individuals with BE would display inhibitory control deficits, with more pronounced deficits occurring when food stimuli were used. Overweight or obese participants with (n = 25) and without (n = 65) BE completed a Stop Signal Task (SST) with distinct task blocks featuring food-specific stimuli, positive non-food stimuli, or neutral stimuli. The BE group exhibited poorer inhibitory control across SST stimuli types (p = .003, ηp(2)=.10), but deficits did not differ by stimuli type (p = .68, ηp(2) < .01). Including depression as a covariate did not significantly alter results. Results suggest individuals with BE display inhibitory control deficits compared to controls; however, deficits do not appear to be specific to stimuli type. Furthermore, inhibitory control deficits do not appear to be associated with mood disturbance in the BE group. Replication and further research is needed to guide treatment targets.
authors.affiliation: Drexel University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Electronic address: smm522@drexel.edu.
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Manasse
authors.affiliation: Drexel University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.affiliation: Drexel University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wyckoff
authors.affiliation: Drexel University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Evan M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Forman
authors.affiliation: Drexel University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Adrienne S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Juarascio
authors.affiliation: Drexel University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Meghan L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Butryn
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto Scarborough, Department of Psychology, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Anthony C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Ruocco
authors.affiliation: Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nederkoorn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002032:Bulimia / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Binge eating; Inhibitory control; Loss-of-control eating; Response inhibition; Stop signal task