The moderating effect of weight loss intentions on dynamic associations between weight suppression and disordered eating

Objective

Weight suppression refers to the difference between one's current and highest previous weight in adulthood and has been associated with development of eating pathology. Previous research has been agnostic as to whether reported weight suppression reflects deliberate weight control behavior, and few studies have assessed whether weight loss that occurs unintentionally (e.g., due to illness) is longitudinally associated with eating pathology.

Method

Undergraduates at a Canadian university (N = 661; 81.4 % female) completed three online surveys over six months. Longitudinal multilevel models examined the interaction of within-person fluctuations in weight suppression and between-person differences in weight loss intentions on binge eating, dietary restriction, and body dissatisfaction.

Results

Of participants who reported weight suppression at baseline, 47.6 % indicated that their weight loss was unintentional. Compared to participants endorsing unintentional weight suppression, participants endorsing intentional weight suppression showed greater body dissatisfaction and binge eating across the assessment period (β = 3.64, p ≤ .001 and β = 2.32, p ≤ .001). Significant within-person effects were found only for restriction, indicating that when individuals reported greater weight suppression, they also reported more restrictive eating (β = 0.89, p = .004). Contrary to hypotheses, associations between within-person fluctuations in weight suppression and disordered eating outcomes did not differ by weight loss intentions.

Discussion

Findings suggest that whether weight suppression is intentional may influence mean levels of disordered eating but may have limited influence on within-person fluctuations in weight suppression and disordered eating severity in a non-clinical sample.