Abstract:
The construct of food addiction, used to describe addictive-like pathological eating, has garnered considerable research attention, empirical evidence, and scholarly debate in recent years. A major point of controversy is that current models and measures of food addiction do not consider the role of dietary restraint on food addiction. A small body of cross-sectional research suggests that food addiction and dietary restraint may be more closely related at some stages of development (e.g., adolescence) than others (e.g., adulthood). However, little is currently known about potential relations, directional pathways, or clinical implications of these constructs. The present studies aim to longitudinally examine temporal pathways between food addiction and dietary restraint during adolescence when the strength of the association may be strongest. To further explore the association between food addiction and dietary restraint, we also test whether food addiction and dietary restraint demonstrate shared or unique clinically relevant outcomes (e.g., intergenerational transmission of eating outcomes). A better understanding of the relationship between food addiction and dietary restraint has important implications for public health and clinical treatment recommendations.