'The weight of a thought': food-related thought suppression in obese and normal-weight youngsters

Appetite
Barbara Soetens, C Braet

Abstract

The ironic processing theory by Wegner states that suppressing unwanted thoughts can be counterproductive because it leads to a rebound of these thoughts, eventually causing increased preoccupations. In line with this view, the present study examines the effects of suppressing food- and eating- related thoughts in obese and non-obese youngsters. Ninety-seven clinically obese and non-obese boys and girls, with different levels of dietary restraint, were asked to monitor their thoughts about food for 5min, during three subsequent trial periods. Participants were instructed to suppress thoughts about food or to merely monitor them. The number of food-related thoughts was recorded across trials. No indication was found for an overall post-suppression rebound effect. However, when examining subgroups of high and low restrained eaters, results showed that the obese high restrained eaters displayed a pattern that was indicative of a rebound effect for food-related thoughts. None of the other groups shared these effects. The results corroborate the hypothesis that trying not to think about food and eating may be counterproductive, at least for a subgroup of clinically obese high restrained eaters. Thought suppression may be one of the ...Continue Reading

References

Dec 1, 1975·Journal of Personality·C P Herman, D Mack
Dec 1, 1991·Appetite·A J HillJ E Blundell
Dec 1, 1994·Journal of Personality·D M Wegner, S Zanakos
Aug 1, 1994·Journal of Abnormal Psychology·L Roemer, T D Borkovec
Nov 1, 1994·Behaviour Research and Therapy·A Wells, A P Morrison
Jan 1, 1994·Behaviour Research and Therapy·P M Salkovskis, P Campbell
Mar 1, 1997·The International Journal of Eating Disorders·S H Stewart, S B Samoluk
May 1, 1997·The British Journal of Clinical Psychology·M Cooper, G Todd
May 20, 1998·The International Journal of Eating Disorders·M H Jones-ChestersP J Cooper
Nov 6, 1998·Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology·C F Telch, E Stice
Nov 18, 1998·Obesity Surgery·G F AdamiN Scopinaro
Jan 23, 1999·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·R M Wenzlaff, D E Bates
Mar 27, 1999·International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders : Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity·A BlokstraJ C Seidell
Oct 8, 1999·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·L Smart, D M Wegner
Feb 7, 2001·Annual Review of Psychology·R M Wenzlaff, D M Wegner
Apr 11, 2000·International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders : Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity·C Braet, K Wydhooge
Jul 6, 2000·European Journal of Clinical Nutrition·S T Kristensen
Jul 4, 2001·Clinical Psychology Review·J S AbramowitzG P Street
Feb 8, 2003·Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology : the Official Journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53·Caroline Braet, Geert Crombez
Mar 5, 2003·The International Journal of Eating Disorders·Nicola Jones, Peter J Rogers
May 20, 2004·Behaviour Research and Therapy·Amparo BellochAmparo Giménez
Jun 24, 2004·Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry·Christine Purdon
Apr 21, 2005·Revista Española De Enfermedades Digestivas : Organo Oficial De La Sociedad Española De Patología Digestiva·I Poves PrimC Ballesta López

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Mar 6, 2010·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·Christopher Russell, Madeleine A Grealy
Mar 6, 2012·The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity·Joke VerstuyfPedro J Teixeira
Jan 21, 2014·Journal of Adolescence·Brittany CollinsKendra Becker
Mar 19, 2014·Physiology & Behavior·Ashley A Martin, Terry L Davidson
Jun 12, 2013·Comprehensive Psychiatry·Rachel D BarnesCarlos M Grilo
Feb 16, 2010·Appetite·James A K Erskine, George J Georgiou
Dec 13, 2007·European Eating Disorders Review : the Journal of the Eating Disorders Association·Barbara SoetensEllen Moens
Feb 11, 2015·Eating and Weight Disorders : EWD·Cláudia FerreiraFrancisca Catarino
Dec 3, 2015·Current Obesity Reports·Samantha J CatonMarion M Hetherington
Mar 30, 2010·Journal of Health Psychology·Rachel D BarnesStacey Tantleff-Dunn
May 1, 2007·The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society·Andrew J Hill
Mar 1, 2019·Frontiers in Psychology·Terry L DavidsonRichard J Stevenson

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric condition characterized by severe weight loss and secondary problems associated with malnutrition. Here is the latest research on AN.