Restraint, tendency toward overeating and ice cream consumption

OBJECTIVE: The examination of the prediction of grams of ice cream eaten by preload, restraint, susceptibility toward overeating, and interaction terms. METHOD: A milkshake-ice cream study on 200 females using the Restraint Scale (RS) and the restraint and disinhibition scales from the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) and the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). Restraint and tendency toward disinhibition are treated as continuous variables in hierarchical step up multiple regression analyses. RESULTS: There was no disinhibition effect, as subjects did not overeat after the milkshake, neither in function of their restraint nor in function of their tendency toward overeating or any interactions between these. Tendency toward overeating was the most important variable for ice cream consumption. Restraint itself, the part that remained after tendency toward overeating had been partialed out, was not related to ice cream consumption. In terms of its association with ice cream consumption, the DEBQ disinhibition scale seems more promising than the TFEQ disinhibition scale. DISCUSSION: Restraint theory seems mainly valid for dieters with a tendency toward overeating. Tendency toward overeating may even be a better predictor than restraint, opening the possibility that overeating precedes dieting