State and trait influences on attentional bias to food-cues: The role of hunger, expectancy, and self-perceived food addiction.

Food-related attentional bias (AB) varies both between individuals (i.e. trait differences) and within individuals (i.e. state differences), as a function of a food's momentary incentive value. People with self-perceived food addiction (SPFA) find food particularly rewarding and may therefore demonstrate increased AB to food-related cues, relative to those who do not perceive themselves as food addicts. However, these trait differences may interact with state factors, such as hunger and the perceived availability of food, to differentially affect AB to food-cues. In the current study, female participants (N = 120) completed an eye-tracking task to assess AB to chocolate pictures in which the expectancy of receiving chocolate was manipulated on a trial-by-trial basis (0%, 50%, 100%). Participants were randomly allocated such that half completed the task when hungry (hungry condition), and half completed the task following a lunch meal (satiated condition). Participants also indicated the extent to which they perceived themselves to be 'food addicts' (SPFAs: n = 37; Non-addicts: n = 53; Undecided: n = 28). Consistent with previous findings, there was a significant main effect of chocolate expectancy; food-related AB was greater on 100% and 50% trials, compared to 0% trials. However, there was no effect of hunger condition (hungry vs. satiated) on AB. Contrary to our hypotheses, SPFAs did not show increased AB to food-cues, and this was not moderated by hunger condition or the expectancy information. Exploratory analyses revealed that higher desire-to-eat (DtE) chocolate was associated with increased AB to chocolate pictures. These findings partially support contemporary theoretical models of AB by indicating a key role for state factors (reward expectancy, DtE) in determining AB to food-cues, while a trait factor (SPFA) was not a significant determinant of food AB.

The development and validation of the Addiction-like Eating Behaviour Scale.

BACKGROUND: Overeating and obesity are frequently attributed to an addiction to food. However, there is currently a lack of evidence to support the idea that certain foods contain any specific addictive substance. An alternative approach is to focus on dimensions of observable behaviour, which may underpin a behavioural addiction to eating. To facilitate this, it is necessary to develop a tool to quantify addiction-like eating behaviour, which is not based on the clinical criteria for substance dependence. The current study provides initial validation of the Addiction-like Eating Behaviour Scale (AEBS). METHODS: English speaking male and female participants (N=511) from a community sample completed the AEBS, alongside a range of other health- and eating-related questionnaires including the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) and Binge Eating Scale (BES). Participants also provided their height and weight to enable calculation of body mass index (BMI). Finally, to assess test-retest reliability, an additional 70 participants completed the AEBS twice, 2 weeks apart. RESULTS: Principle components analysis revealed that a two-factor structure best accounted for the data. Factor 1 consisted of items that referred to appetitive drive, whereas factor two consisted of items that referred to dietary control practices. Both subscales demonstrated good internal reliability and test-retest reliability, and a confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the two-factor scale structure. AEBS scores correlated positively with body mass index (BMI) (P<0.001) and other self-report measures of overeating. Importantly, the AEBS significantly predicted variance in BMI above that accounted for by both the YFAS and BES (P=0.027). CONCLUSIONS: The AEBS provides a valid and reliable tool to quantify the behavioural features of a potential 'eating addiction'. In doing so, the AEBS overcomes many limitations associated with applying substance-dependence criteria to eating.