Development of the Hedonic Overeating-Questionnaire (HEDO-Q)

Addictive-like eating is prevalent, but a clear conceptualization and operationalization outside of an addiction framework is lacking. By adopting a biopsychological framework of food reward, this study sought to develop and evaluate a brief self-report questionnaire for the trait assessment of hedonic overeating and dyscontrol. Items in the Hedonic Overeating-Questionnaire (HEDO-Q) were constructed following a rational approach and psychometrically evaluated in a large random sample from the German population (N = 2531). A confirmatory factor analysis supported the unidimensional nature of the six-item HEDO-Q with the three postulated components of wanting, liking, and dyscontrol. Psychometric properties were favorable with good corrected item-total correlations, acceptable item difficulty and homogeneity, and high internal consistency. Population norms were provided. The HEDO-Q revealed strict measurement invariance for sex and partial invariance for age and weight status. Discriminant validity was demonstrated in distinguishing participants with versus without eating disturbances or obesity. Associations with the established measures of eating disorder and general psychopathology supported the convergent and divergent validity of the HEDO-Q. This first evaluation indicates good psychometric properties of the HEDO-Q in the general population. Future validation work is warranted on the HEDO-Q's stability, sensitivity to change, and predictive and construct validity

Development and validation of the Self-Regulation of Eating Behaviour Questionnaire for adults

Background Eating self-regulatory capacity can help individuals to cope with the obesogenic environment and achieve, as well as maintain, a healthy weight and diet. At present, there is no comprehensive, reliable and valid questionnaire for assessing this capacity and measuring change in response to self-regulation interventions in adults. This paper reports the development of the Self-regulation of Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (SREBQ) for use in UK adults, and presents evidence for its reliability and construct validity. The development of the SREBQ involved generation of an item pool, followed by two pilot studies (Samples 1 and 2) and a test of the questionnaire’s underlying factor structure (Sample 3). The final version of the SREBQ was then assessed for reliability and construct validity (Sample 4). Results Development of the SREBQ resulted in a 5-item questionnaire. The face validity was satisfactory, as assessed by the pilot studies. The factor structure analysis (Sample 3) suggested that it has a single underlying factor, which was confirmed in a second sample (Sample 4). The SREBQ had strong construct validity, showing a positive correlation with general measures of self-regulation. It was also positively correlated with motivation and behavioural automaticity, and negatively correlated with food responsiveness and emotional over-eating (p < 0.001). It showed good discriminant validity, as it was only weakly associated with satiety responsiveness, food fussiness and slowness in eating. Conclusions The SREBQ is a reliable and valid measure for assessment of eating self-regulatory capacity in the general UK adult population

Is food addiction a predictor of treatment outcome among patients with eating disorder?

ObjectivesThe study aimed to examine whether food addiction (FA) was associated with greater severity in both binge eating disorders (BED) and bulimia nervosa and, therefore, to determine if FA was predictive of treatment outcome.MethodSeventy-one adult patients with bulimia nervosa and BED (42 and 29, respectively) participated in the study. FA was assessed by means of the Yale Food Addiction Scale.ResultsThe results confirmed a high prevalence of FA in patients with binge disorders (around 87%) and also its association with a greater severity of the disorder (i.e., related to an increased eating psychopathology and greater frequency of binge eating episodes). Although FA did not appear as a predictor of treatment outcome in general terms, when the diagnostic subtypes were considered separately, FA was associated with poor prognosis in the BED group. In this vein, FA appeared as a mediator in the relationship between ED severity and treatment outcome.DiscussionsOur findings suggest that FA may act as an indicator of ED severity, and it would be a predictor of treatment outcome in BED but not in BN.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152018/1/erv2705.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152018/2/erv2705_am.pd

Animal welfare attitudes: Effects of gender and diet in university samples from 22 countries

Animal Welfare Attitudes (AWA) are defined as human attitudes towards the welfare of animals in different dimensions and settings. Demographic factors, such as age and gender are associated with AWA. The aim of this study was to assess gender differences among university students in a large convenience sample from twenty-two nations in AWA. A total of 7914 people participated in the study (5155 women, 2711 men, 48 diverse). Participants completed a questionnaire that collected demographic data, typical diet and responses to the Composite Respect for Animals Scale Short version (CRAS-S). In addition, we used a measure of gender empowerment from the Human Development Report. The largest variance in AWA was explained by diet, followed by country and gender. In terms of diet, 6385 participants reported to be omnivores, 296 as pescatarian, 637 ate a vegetarian diet and 434 were vegans (n = 162 without answer). Diet was related with CRAS-S scores; people with a vegan diet scored higher in AWA than omnivores. Women scored significantly higher on AWA than men. Furthermore, gender differences in AWA increased as gender inequality decreased

Genetic changes in human pluripotent stem cells: implications for basic biology and regenerative medicine

Chronic tissue and organ failure caused by an injury, disease, ageing or congenital defects represents some of the most complex therapeutic challenges and poses a significant financial healthcare burden. Regenerative medicine strategies aim to fulfil the unmet clinical need by restoring the normal tissue function either through stimulating the endogenous tissue repair or by using transplantation strategies to replace the missing or defective cells. Stem cells represent an essential pillar of regenerative medicine efforts as they provide a source of progenitors or differentiated cells for use in cell replacement therapies. Whilst significant leaps have been made in controlling the stem cell fates and differentiating them to cell types of interest, transitioning bespoke cellular products from an academic environment to off-the-shelf clinical treatments brings about a whole new set of challenges which encompass manufacturing, regulatory and funding issues. Notwithstanding the need to resolve such issues before cell replacement therapies can benefit global healthcare, mounting progress in the field has highlighted regenerative medicine as a realistic prospect for treating some of the previously incurable conditions

Food-specific response inhibition, dietary restraint and snack intake in lean and overweight/obese adults: a moderated-mediation model

Background/Objectives: The relationship between response inhibition and obesity is currently unclear. This may be because of inconsistencies in methodology, design limitations and the use of narrow samples. In addition, dietary restraint has not been considered, yet restraint has been reported to moderate performance on behavioural tasks of response inhibition. The aim of this study was to investigate performance on both a food-based and a neutral stimuli go/no-go task, which addresses current design limitations, in lean and overweight/obese adults. The moderating role of dietary restraint in the relationship between body composition, response inhibition and snack intake was also measured. Subjects/methods: Lean and overweight/obese, males and females (N=116) completed both a food-based and neutral category control go/no-go task, in a fully counterbalanced repeated-measures design. A bogus taste-test was then completed, followed by a self-report measure of dietary restraint. Results: PROCESS moderated-mediation analysis showed that overweight/obese, compared to lean, participants made more errors on the food-based (but not the neutral) go/no-go task, but only when they were low in dietary restraint. Performance on the food-based go/no-go task predicted snack intake across the sample. Increased intake in the overweight, low restrainers was fully mediated by increased errors on the food-based (but not the neutral) go/no-go task.Conclusions: Distinguishing between high and low restrained eaters in the overweight/obese population is crucial in future obesity research incorporating food-based go/no-go tasks. Poor response inhibition to food cues predicts overeating across weight groups, suggesting weight loss interventions and obesity prevention programmes should target behavioural inhibition training in such individuals

Cued to act on impulse: more impulsive choice and risky decision making by women susceptible to overeating after exposure to food stimuli

There is increasing evidence that individual differences in tendency to overeat relate to impulsivity, possibly by increasing reactivity to food-related cues in the environment. This study tested whether acute exposure to food cues enhanced impulsive and risky responses in women classified on tendency to overeat, indexed by scores on the three factor eating questionnaire disinhibition (TFEQ-D), restraint (TFEQ-R) and hunger scales. Ninety six healthy women completed two measures of impulsive responding (delayed discounting, DDT and a Go No-Go, GNG, task) and a measure of risky decision making (the balloon analogue risk task, BART) as well as questionnairemeasures of impulsive behaviour either after looking at a series of pictures of food or visually matched controls. Impulsivity (DDT) and risk-taking (BART) were both positively associated with TFEQ-D scores, but in both cases this effect was exacerbated by prior exposure to food cues. No effects of restraint were found. TFEQ-D scores were also related tomore commission errors on the GNG, while restrained women were slower on the GNG, but neither effect was modified by cue exposure. Overall these data suggest that exposure to food cues act to enhance general impulsive responding in women at risk of overeating and tentatively suggest an important interaction between tendency for impulsive decision making and food cues thatmay help explain a key underlying risk factor for overeating