Effects of Chocolate Deprivation on Implicit and Explicit Evaluation of Chocolate in High and Low Trait Chocolate Cravers

Abstract

Diet failures are often attributed to an increase in cravings for attractive foods. However, accumulating evidence shows that food cravings actually decrease during energy-restricting weight-loss interventions. The current study aimed at elucidating possible mechanisms that may explain how and under which circumstances food cravings in- or decrease during dieting. Specifically, decreases in food cravings during weight-loss diets may be due to effects of energy restriction (homeostatic changes) and to effects of avoiding specific foods (hedonic changes). Thus, we used a selective, hedonic deprivation (i.e., restricting intake of a specific food in the absence of an energy deficit) that precludes homeostatic changes due to energy restriction. Furthermore, interindividual differences in food craving experiences might affect why some individuals are more prone to experience cravings during dieting than others. Thus, we investigated whether a selective deprivation of chocolate would in- or decrease craving and implicit preference for chocolate as a function of trait-level differences in chocolate craving. Participants with high and low trait chocolate craving (HC, LC) refrained from consuming chocolate for 2 weeks but otherwise maintained their usual food intake. Both groups underwent laboratory assessments before and after deprivation, each including explicit (i.e., state chocolate craving) and implicit measures (i.e., Single Category Implicit Association Test, SC-IAT; Affect Misattribution Procedure, AMP). Results showed that hedonic deprivation increased state chocolate craving in HCs only. HCs also showed more positive implicit attitudes toward chocolate than LCs on the SC-IAT and the AMP irrespective of deprivation. Results help to disambiguate previous studies on the effects of dieting on food cravings. Specifically, while previous studies showed that energy-restricting diets appear to decrease food cravings, the current study showed that a selective, hedonic deprivation in the absence of an energy deficit increases food cravings. However, this effect can only be observed for individuals with high trait craving levels. Thus, if attractive foods are strictly avoided through a selective deprivation, HCs are at risk to experience craving bouts in the absence of an energy deficit. As implicit preference was unaffected by chocolate deprivation, strong implicit preference for chocolate likely characterize a stable mechanism that drives consumption in HCs.

When and how do explicit measures of food craving predict implicit food evaluation? A moderated mediation model

“…In the laboratory, participants completed the FCQ-S before performing the SC-IAT. A comprehensive description of recruitment and testing procedure can be found in Richard, Meule, Friese, et al (2017).…”

“…In the current studies, we examined relationships between trait and state chocolate craving, current hunger, and implicit evaluation of chocolate. Study 1 was a re-analysis of a previous study, in which both trait and state chocolate craving were associated with implicit evaluation of chocolate as assessed with a SC-IAT (Richard, Meule, Friese, & Blechert, 2017). Here, we examined whether this relationship between trait chocolate craving and implicit evaluation of chocolate was mediated by state chocolate craving measured prior to the SC-IAT.…”

“…Data were taken from a study on the effects of chocolate deprivation in a group of high trait chocolate cravers and a group of low trait chocolate cravers, results of which are reported elsewhere (Richard, Meule, Friese, et al, 2017). A total of 131 individuals completed the chocolate version of the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait-reduced (Meule & Hormes, 2015) online.…”

Twenty Years of the Food Cravings Questionnaires: a Comprehensive Review

“…Similar to the FCQ-S, scores are sensitive to change as they increased during chocolate exposure [93]. Furthermore, scores on the chocolate-adapted FCQ-S increased during a two-week chocolate deprivation in trait chocolate cravers [97] and during approach-avoidance reaction time tasks with pictorial chocolate stimuli on touchscreen devices [94,96].…”

“…Predictive validity has been supported by studies that examined hedonic responses to chocolate cues and chocolate consumption. For example, higher scores on the chocolate-adapted FCQ-S related to more positive evaluations of chocolate-containing foods in implicit measures such as the Affect Misattribution Procedure and the Implicit Association Test [97]. When examining interactive effects between the chocolate craving and the hunger subscale, it was found that higher chocolate craving related to more positive evaluations of chocolate only in hungry participants [98].…”