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Measures of Restraint: Separating Dieting from Overweight
Appetite: Journalfor Intake Research, 1982,3,282
Measures of Restraint: Separating Dieting from Overweight ADAM DREWNOWSKI The Rockefeller University, New York DWIGHT RISKEY and J. A. DESOR General Foods Corporation Tarrytown
The chieftheoretical interest ofthe restraint questionnaire (Herman & Polivy, 1975) lies in its supposed ability to separate dietary restraint from the degree of overweight. Herman and Polivy (1975) have proposed that it was conscious dietary restraint and not obesity as such that was responsible for the observed obese-normal differences in behavior. They now argue that a highly variable weight history-in other words, a history of overweight-is inextricably linked with dieting and overeating and is itself the best evidence for dietary restraint (Herman & Polivy, 1982). If overweight and restraint are really so intertwined, then the questionnaire fails in its principal aim, which is to separate restraint from overweight. Most obese subjects would be classified as "restrained" on the basis of their weight fluctuations, regardless of their current attitudes towards food and dieting. However, our factor analysis of data obtained with a large population of overweight subjects suggests that the scale was at least partly successful-since the dietary restraint factor scores were genuinely independent of body weight (Drewnowski, Riskey & Desor, 1982). Our data showed that moderate self-reported overweight was not associated with the expected increase in guilt or in the subjective concern with dieting. Men, in particular, tended to gain more weight, but dieted less and felt less guilty about overeating than did women. Since the restraint scale mixes weight history and restraint questions, it may be unsuitable for use with populations with a broad range of body weights-that is to say with the general public. Further attitudinal tests are needed to help separate the effects of weight change and conscious restraint in the overweight individual, since the existing restraint questionnaire appears to be inadequate in this regard. REFERENCES
Drewnowski, A., Riskey, D., & Desor, J. A. Feeling fat and unconcerned: Self-reported overweightand the restraint scale. Appetite: Journalfor Intake Research, 1982,3,273-279. Herman, C. P., & Polivy, J. Anxiety, restraint and eating behavior. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1975, 84, 666-672.
Herman, C. P " & Polivy,J, Weightchange and dietaryconcernin the overweight: Aretheyreally independent? Appetite: Journalfor Intake Research, 1982,3,280-281. Received 20 July, 1982
0195-6663/82/030282+ 1 $03'00/0
(l') 1982 Academic Press Inc. (London) Limited
Measures of Restraint: Separating Dieting from Overweight ADAM DREWNOWSKI The Rockefeller University, New York DWIGHT RISKEY and J. A. DESOR General Foods Corporation Tarrytown
The chieftheoretical interest ofthe restraint questionnaire (Herman & Polivy, 1975) lies in its supposed ability to separate dietary restraint from the degree of overweight. Herman and Polivy (1975) have proposed that it was conscious dietary restraint and not obesity as such that was responsible for the observed obese-normal differences in behavior. They now argue that a highly variable weight history-in other words, a history of overweight-is inextricably linked with dieting and overeating and is itself the best evidence for dietary restraint (Herman & Polivy, 1982). If overweight and restraint are really so intertwined, then the questionnaire fails in its principal aim, which is to separate restraint from overweight. Most obese subjects would be classified as "restrained" on the basis of their weight fluctuations, regardless of their current attitudes towards food and dieting. However, our factor analysis of data obtained with a large population of overweight subjects suggests that the scale was at least partly successful-since the dietary restraint factor scores were genuinely independent of body weight (Drewnowski, Riskey & Desor, 1982). Our data showed that moderate self-reported overweight was not associated with the expected increase in guilt or in the subjective concern with dieting. Men, in particular, tended to gain more weight, but dieted less and felt less guilty about overeating than did women. Since the restraint scale mixes weight history and restraint questions, it may be unsuitable for use with populations with a broad range of body weights-that is to say with the general public. Further attitudinal tests are needed to help separate the effects of weight change and conscious restraint in the overweight individual, since the existing restraint questionnaire appears to be inadequate in this regard. REFERENCES
Drewnowski, A., Riskey, D., & Desor, J. A. Feeling fat and unconcerned: Self-reported overweightand the restraint scale. Appetite: Journalfor Intake Research, 1982,3,273-279. Herman, C. P., & Polivy, J. Anxiety, restraint and eating behavior. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1975, 84, 666-672.
Herman, C. P " & Polivy,J, Weightchange and dietaryconcernin the overweight: Aretheyreally independent? Appetite: Journalfor Intake Research, 1982,3,280-281. Received 20 July, 1982
0195-6663/82/030282+ 1 $03'00/0
(l') 1982 Academic Press Inc. (London) Limited