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Which came first? Exploring the reciprocal relations between impulsivity and binge eating

Aislin R. Mushquash,Laura McGeown,C. Mushquash,Daniel S. McGrath

Published 2019 in Personality and Individual Differences

ABSTRACT

Abstract Binge eating is exceedingly common in nonclinical samples of young adults, with epidemiological evidence that 49.1% and 30.0% of university-aged women and men, respectively, engage in episodic binge eating. Thus, there is impetus to identify dispositional factors contributing to the emergence and maintenance of binge eating. Impulsivity is well cited as an important vulnerability factor, as longitudinal studies have indicated impulsivity prospectively predicts future binge eating (i.e., a predisposing model). However, no studies to date have examined whether binge eating reciprocally influences future impulsivity (i.e., a complication model). In addition, no prior longitudinal studies have included men, despite evidence that a significant proportion engage in binge eating. To address these gaps in the literature, we conducted a short-term 3-week, 3-wave cross-lagged longitudinal design with 241 undergraduate students (186 women; 53 men). Consistent with our hypotheses, we found both impulsivity and binge eating exhibited strong stability over time, and impulsivity predicted future binge eating across all three waves of the study. Contrary to the complication model, binge eating did not predict future impulsivity. The findings from the current study suggest that personality-targeted prevention and intervention approaches targeting impulsivity may demonstrate clinical utility in attenuating binge eating symptomatology.

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