Restraint theory (Herman and Polivy, 1975) suggests that human eating behaviour is under cognitive control and this leads to reduced sensitivity to internal cues for satiety, resulting in overeating in situations where cognitive control is under-mined (Johnson et al., 2012). In other words, restraint theory suggests that restraint (dieting) actually leads to leads to an excessive intake of food.

The present study sought to investigate the relationship between dieting, eating behaviours (uncontrolled eating, emotional eating, cognitive restraint) and rumination (repetitive negative thinking). The second objective was to determine whether rumination mediates the relationship between dieting and both uncontrolled eating and emotional eating.

The sample was composed of 188 women (Mage = 29.46 ± 8.94; MBMI = 23.16 ± 4.04). The Eating Attitudes Test, the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire and the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire were used in the present study.

Dieting for weight control (intentional weight loss) was associated with higher levels of uncontrolled eating, emotional eating, cognitive restraint and repetitive negative thinking. Mediation analyses showed that the relationship between dieting and inappropriate eating behaviours was mediated by rumination. The direct effect of dieting on both uncontrolled eating and emotional eating was significant, suggesting partial mediation.

Our findings support the relevance of rumination in linking dieting and eating behaviours among women. The current study may have clinical applications such as the potential integration of rumination for the prevention and changes in inappropriate eating behaviours.

No significant relationships.

The current study investigates potential pathways from socio-economic status (SES) to BMI in the adult population, considering psychological domains of eating behaviour (restrained eating, uncontrolled eating, emotional eating) as potential mediators stratified for sex.

Data were derived from the population-based cross-sectional LIFE-Adult-Study. Parallel-mediation models were conducted to obtain the total, direct and indirect effects of psychological eating behaviour domains on the association between SES and BMI for men and for women.

Leipzig, Germany.

We studied 5935 participants aged 18 to 79 years.

Uncontrolled eating mediated the association between SES and BMI in men only and restrained eating in both men and women. Emotional eating did not act as mediator in this relationship. The total effect of eating behaviour domains on the association between SES and BMI was estimated as β=−0·03 (se 0·02; 95 % CI −0·062, −0·003) in men and β=−0·18 (se 0·02; 95 % CI −0·217, −0·138) in women.

Our findings do not indicate a strong overall mediation effect of the eating behaviour domains restrained eating, uncontrolled eating and emotional eating on the association between SES and BMI. Further research on other pathways of this association is strongly recommended. Importantly, our findings indicate that, independent from one’s social position, focusing on psychological aspects in weight reduction might be a promising approach.