PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Michael R Lowe

Publications and source records attributed to Michael R Lowe.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Multiple types of dieting prospectively predict weight gain during the freshman year of college.

The freshman year of college is a period of heightened risk for weight gain. This study examined measures of restrained eating, disinhibition, and emotional eating as predictors of weight gain during the freshman year. Using Lowe's multi-factorial model of dieting, it also examined three different types of dieting as predictors of weight gain. Sixty-nine females were assessed at three points during the school year. Weight gain during the freshman year averaged 2.1 kg. None of the traditional self-report measures of restraint, disinhibition, or emotional eating were predictive of weight gain. However, both a history of weight loss dieting and weight suppression (discrepancy between highest weight ever and current weight) predicted greater weight gain, and these effects appeared to be largely independent of one another. Individuals who said they were currently dieting to lose weight gained twice as much (5.0 kg) as former dieters (2.5 kg) and three times as much as never dieters (1.6 kg), but the import of this finding was unclear because there was only a small number of current dieters (N = 7). Overall the results indicate that specific subtypes of dieting predicts weight gain during the freshman year better than more global measures of restraint or overeating.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Weight suppression predicts weight gain during inpatient treatment of bulimia nervosa.

Bulimic individuals typically lose a substantial amount of weight in the process of developing their disorder. Such weight suppression (WS) may be behaviorally and metabolically problematic. The present study tested the hypothesis that WS would predict weight gain during the inpatient hospitalization of 146 bulimia nervosa-spectrum inpatients. WS represented the difference (M=12.0 kg) between highest weight ever and current body weight. Controlling for length of stay and current dieting (EAT-D scores), high levels of WS predicted greater weight gain. Furthermore, WS and admission BMI independently predicted weight gain when entered together in a regression analysis. Weight gain was also related to clinical improvement. These findings suggest that weight suppression, independently of current dieting status, may produce psychobiological pressures toward weight gain and could complicate the treatment of bulimia nervosa.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Weight suppression is a robust predictor of outcome in the cognitive-behavioral treatment of bulimia nervosa.

This study examined weight suppression (difference between highest premorbid weight and pretreatment weight) as a predictor of outcome in 188 outpatients with bulimia nervosa enrolled in a cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention. Participants who dropped out of treatment had significantly higher levels of weight suppression than treatment completers. Of participants who completed treatment, those who continued to engage in binge eating or purging had significantly higher levels of weight suppression than those who were abstinent from bingeing and purging. Results did not change when body mass index, dietary restraint, weight and shape concerns, or other relevant variables were controlled. Relinquishing bulimic behaviors and adopting normal eating patterns may be most feasible for patients who are closest to their highest premorbid weights.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Stress-induced eating in restrained eaters may not be caused by stress or restraint.

Restrained eaters tend to increase and unrestrained eaters to decrease their food intake when stressed. This relationship, though robust, does not appear to be caused by restrained eating or by stress per se. For restraint, evidence indicates that none of the common operationalizations of restraint can account for restraint-related effects that have been examined to date. It is therefore unlikely that restraint is responsible for stress-induced eating in restrained eaters. Rather, behavioral and physiological data suggest that restrained eating may be a proxy risk factor for vulnerability to weight gain. For stress, a variety of minimally stressful perturbations (e.g. non-threatening cognitive loads) have been shown to elicit increased intake in restrained eaters. Thus, the negative affect created by manipulations used to create stress (e.g. scary movies, failure at a task) does not appear to be necessary to provoke overeating. An adequate explanation for stress-induced eating in restrained eaters remains elusive.

Eating↗
PubMed2005

Eating motives and the controversy over dieting: eating less than needed versus less than wanted.

Anti-dieting sentiment has grown in recent years. Critics of restrained eating suggest that it evokes counter-regulatory responses that render it ineffective or even iatrogenic. However, restrained eaters are not in negative energy balance and overweight individuals show reduced eating problems when losing weight by dieting. A distinction is often drawn between physiological and psychological hunger, and neuroscience research has shown that there is a neurophysiological reality underlying this distinction. The brain has a homeostatic system (activated by energy deficits) and a hedonic system (activated by the presence of palatable food). The omnipresence of highly palatable food in the environment may chronically activate the hedonic appetite system, producing a need to actively restrain eating not just to lose weight but to avoid gaining it. Just as restricting energy intake below homeostatic needs produces physiological deprivation, restricting intake of palatable foods may produce "perceived deprivation" despite a state of energy balance. In summary, the motivation to eat more than one needs appears to be every bit as real, and perhaps every bit as powerful, as the motivation to eat when energy deprived.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Comparing two measures of eating restraint in bulimic women treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in dietary restraint patterns revealed by the Eating Disorders Examination Restraint subscale (EDE-R) and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire Cognitive Restraint scale (TFEQ-CR) in a large sample of women with bulimia nervosa (BN) who completed 18 weeks of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). METHOD: Data from 134 subjects were obtained from a larger study and analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: The EDE-R showed statistically and clinically significant decreases post-CBT, whereas the TFEQ-CR did not change significantly. DISCUSSION: This is the first study to directly compare the EDE-R and TFEQ-CR before and after CBT in the same population. The contrasting results suggest the two measures tap different aspects of the dietary restraint construct. The EDE-R may primarily reflect dieting to lose weight whereas the TFEQ-CR may reflect dieting to avoid weight gain. In assessing changes in dietary restraint targeted by CBT for BN, the TFEQ-CR appears less useful.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

What a difference a diet makes: towards an understanding of differences between restrained dieters and restrained nondieters.

Restrained eaters who are and are not dieting to lose weight have shown opposite eating regulation patterns in past research. To better understand these differences, restraint theory and the Three-Factor Model of Dieting was used to generate differential predictions about the mean and variability of restrained dieters (RDs) and restrained nondieters (RNDs) on the eating inventory Cognitive Restraint (CR) scale and the Restraint Scale (RS). Unrestrained nondieters served as a reference group. Eighty normal-weight female college students completed the CR, RS, and a measure of weight cycling. RDs, relative to RNDs, obtained higher and more homogeneous scores on the Cognitive Restraint, and higher and more heterogeneous scores on the RS. A post hoc analysis found that RDs had a much greater weight cycling history than RNDs. These findings are most consistent with the Three-Factor Model of Dieting, but also point to needed revisions both in this model and in traditional restraint theory.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Are dietary restraint scales valid measures of acute dietary restriction? Unobtrusive observational data suggest not.

The finding that dietary restraint scales predict onset of bulimic pathology has been interpreted as suggesting that dieting causes this eating disturbance, despite the dearth of evidence that these scales are valid measures of dietary restriction. The authors conducted 4 studies that tested whether dietary restraint scales were inversely correlated with unobtrusively measured caloric intake. These studies, which varied in foods consumed, settings, and populations, indicated that common dietary restraint scales were largely uncorrelated with acute caloric intake. Results suggest that these scales are not valid measures of short-term dietary restriction and imply that it may be prudent to reinterpret findings from studies thai use these scales, including those that suggest dietary restraint is a risk factor for bulimic pathology.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Dieting: really harmful, merely ineffective or actually helpful?

Dieting has developed a negative reputation among many researchers and health care professionals. However, 'dieting' can refer to a variety of behavioural patterns that are associated with different effects on eating and body weight. The wisdom of dieting depends on what kind of dieting is involved, who is doing it, and why. Thus, depending on what one means by the term, dieting can be quite harmful, merely ineffective or actually beneficial. The present paper considers examples of all three. In particular, we argue that judgements about the desirability of dieting should consider the likely consequences to particular individuals of engaging in, or not engaging in, dieting behaviour.

Diet↗
PubMed2003

Inpatient treatment for eating disorders: outcome at discharge and 3-month follow-up.

There have been few studies of inpatient treatment for eating disorders. Existing studies have mostly examined small samples of either anorexic or bulimic patients. The current study evaluated large samples of anorexic and bulimic inpatients at intake, discharge, and a 3-month follow-up. At discharge, patients in both groups showed substantial and statistically significant improvements on self-report measures of depression and eating disorder symptomatology. Treatment gains were largely maintained at follow-up. Correlational analyses found consistent inverse relationships between degree of change experienced during and after hospitalization. More favorable outcome during treatment was associated with less favorable outcome after treatment. Implications of these findings for the assessment and treatment of eating disorders are discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Self-regulation of energy intake in the prevention and treatment of obesity: is it feasible?

The prevalence of obesity in developed countries has been steadily increasing. Comprehensive lifestyle change programs for the treatment of obesity have garnered considerable empirical support, but most weight lost in lifestyle interventions is regained within several years. The outcome of obesity prevention programs has also been disappointing. One reason for this state of affairs may be that most weight control programs are based on an assumption of equipotentiality of their intervention components. That is, obesity prevention and treatment programs consist of a multitude of behavioral, cognitive, nutritional, physical activity, and interpersonal techniques, all of which are assumed to be of roughly equal importance in weight control. However, there is considerable evidence that our evolutionary heritage has made most humans highly sensitive to the availability and nature of food in the environment. It therefore may be unrealistic to expect that enhancing self-regulatory skills will be sufficient to overcome the combined influence of our appetitive predispositions and the obesigenic environment. However, there is growing evidence that weight control interventions that focus on the availability, structure, composition, and portion size of foods in the diet improve long-term weight control. Concerted efforts to change the availability and nature of foods at both the individual and population level may hold considerable promise for the treatment and prevention of obesity.

Diet, Reducing↗
PubMed2002

Correlates of subjective and objective binge eating in binge-purge syndromes.

OBJECTIVE: Research has begun to challenge the idea that a large amount of food is a diagnostically relevant distinction in classifying binge eating. This study examined the relationship between both objective and subjective (i.e., feeling out of control while eating an appropriate amount of food) binge eating frequency and factor analytically derived measures of dieting and psychopathology. METHOD: Participants were 40 women who were admitted for inpatient treatment for bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, binge-purge type, or eating disorder not otherwise specified with binge-purge symptoms. RESULTS: Controlling for subjective binge frequency, neither the psychopathology nor the dieting factors were related to objective binge frequency. Controlling for objective binge frequency, dieting, but not psychopathology, was related to subjective binge frequency. There was no correlation between frequency of subjective and objective binge eating. DISCUSSION: The results are discussed in light of research on restrained eating. Implications for diagnosis and the role of loss of control in defining binge behavior are also discussed.

Adult↗