| dc.description.abstract | Intermittent fasting (IF) is an increasingly popular diet that involves short-term fasting and/or caloric restriction every day or multiple times per week. Hardly any research has examined its associations with psychological factors. Previous research outlining cognitive models of bulimia nervosa and dietary restraint suggest that certain levels of dietary restraint, which is expected to highly correlate with engagement in IF, may lead to binge eating. However, other research has suggested that other variables may contribute to the relationship between dietary restraint and the likelihood of a binge. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between IF and dietary restraint, impulsivity, delay discounting, and binge eating. A sample of undergraduate students (n = 299) at a large public university participated in the online study for class credit. There were several important findings from this study. For instance, individuals who were engaging in intermittent fasting were more likely to binge eat than not (p < .01). In addition, those who were currently engaging in IF or who had fasted in the past reported significantly higher levels of dietary restraint than those who had never participated in intermittent fasting (p < .001). Across the entire sample, a rigid dietary style of eating was found to increase the odds of binge eating. However, the interaction effect between rigid dietary control and delay discounting was only marginally significant (p = .06). Significant main effects were seen for both dietary restraint and impulsivity, where heightened levels of both led to increased odds of binge eating (p < .05), and impulsivity further served as a moderator that strengthened the positive relationship between dietary restraint and binge eating. Additionally, preliminary findings indicated significant relationships between intuitive eating, psychological flexibility, eating with awareness, and impulsivity. Future studies should seek to confirm these findings in randomized trials or longitudinal studies. | en |
