The aim of this study was to assess the antecedents and consequences of binge eating in ten obese binge eaters. The subjects completed retrospective measures and monitored themselves at the time binge eating occurred. The results show that the common temporally remote antecedents to binge eating included being very busy throughout the day, feeling unusually tired/fatigued, having consumed too much food during the day, and feeling down or irritable. A number of affective variables (e.g., anxiety, anger, frustration, sadness, guilt, agitation) temporarily decreased during a binge eating episode, yet increased again following binge eating. Furthermore, the antecedents and consequences surrounding binge eating episodes were moderately to highly variable both between and within subjects, thus supporting the need for individualised functional assessments of the antecedents and consequences of binge eating. The implications for treatment and future research are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.