Examining relationships among thin-ideal internalization, eating pathology, and motivational reactions to high- and low-calorie food

Abstract

Motivational responses to both body and food stimuli are relevant for eating disorders (EDs). Thin-ideal internalization, a socio-cognitive factor implicated in EDs, has been associated with approach responses toward thin bodies and avoidant responses to overweight bodies. Research examining reactions to food in EDs has been mixed, with some studies reporting enhanced approach and others observing avoidant responses to food. Thin-ideal internalization may help to explain these mixed findings, as individuals with eating pathology may experience food as a threat to internalized ideals of thinness, despite its inherently appetitive qualities. In the present study, physiological reflexes measuring aversive (startle blink reflex) and appetitive (postauricular reflex) responding as well as self-report ratings were recorded while 87 women with and without eating pathology viewed images of high- and low-calorie food. Greater global eating pathology, but not thin-ideal internalization, was associated with negative self-report valence ratings and lower craving ratings of high-calorie food. Thin-ideal internalization was related to more positive self-report ratings of low-calorie food, and low-calorie food ratings were related to eating pathology indirectly through thin-ideal internalization. Overall, thin-ideal internalization may represent a higher-order factor that influences conscious reactions to food.

The Role of Negative Affect in Emotional Processing of Food-Related Images in Eating Disorders and Obesity

“…However, our data differ from other studies reporting that these patients (compared to healthy participants) rate food as more rewarding (Bodell and Keel, 2015 ; Leehr et al, 2016 ; Simon et al, 2016 ), enjoyable (Drobes et al, 2001 ), and appetizing (Mauler et al, 2006 ). This ambivalence toward food could be explained by the existence of an approach-avoidance motivational conflict in people with ED (Wilson et al, 2020 ). Regarding the Valence, our results indicate that patients with binge-purge symptomatology explicitly rate the images as less pleasurable (Racine et al, 2018 ).…”