Michael Levine's Eating Disorders Prevention/Sociocultural Factors Newsletter

NO. 159: (i) Prevention; (ii) Theories/Models & Critical Analyses (n = 2); (iii) Diabetes, EDs, and DE (n = 2); (iv) Nature & Correlates of EDs, Part 1 (n = 3); and (v) Food Addiction, Part 3 (n = 3)

Jul 03, 2025

Colleagues (N now = 1382 in 50 countries),

Please (a) continue to send me any and all announcements (e.g., conferences, awards, webinars, prevention resources, your recent publications); and (b) pass along the following to anyone who would like to join this free email list.

GRANT OPPORTUNITY

The USA’s National Eating Disorders Association announces its

2025 Feeding Hope Fund Clinical Research Grant Program:

One Feeding Hope Fund grant for eating disorders research (up to $100,000, paid over two years) and one Early Career Investigator research grant, up to $50,000.

Letter of Intent (LOI) due Monday, August 25th at 5pm EST.

Received 1 July 2025 via an email from our own Shivani Dutt (USA), Manager of, Mission Initiatives for USA’s National Eating Disorders Association.

ML NOTE 1: Shivani and I would appreciate it if you would pass this oppoortunity along to colleagues, trainees, students, etc.

[Ms. Dutt writes; bold in the original]

Valued eating disorders research community:

We are delighted to announce the 2025 Feeding Hope Fund Clinical Research grant program.

For the 2025 grant cycle, we will be awarding one Feeding Hope Fund grant for eating disorders research (up to $100,000, paid over two years) and one Early Career Investigator research grant, up to $50,000.

Please note that the first step in the application process is to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) due on Monday, August 25th at 5pm EST.

For more information about the process, the timeline, and the documents required, please click here: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/grant-announcement

You can find a list of past research award recipients here: NEDA Research Grants - National Eating Disorders Association

Thanks for sharing this announcement widely with those who may be interested in applying for a research grant. If you have questions about our research program, please email us at feedinghopefund@nationaleatingdisorders.org.

Thank you,

U.S. ADVOCACY UPDATE:

Eating Disorders Coalition’s

Statement on the U.S. Senate’s Defeat of the AI Moratorium

Received July 2, 2025, via an everything-is-advocacy email from the Eating Disorders Coalition.

EDC Statement on Defeat of the AI Moratorium

WASHINGTON, D.C. — (July 2, 2025) The Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy, & Action (EDC) applauds the U.S. Senate for passing Amendment #2814 led by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Ed Markey (D-MA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Andy Kim (D-NJ). The amendment to modify the One Big Beautiful Bill Act removes a 10-year moratorium on states and local governments from enforcing or establishing new laws or regulations governing artificial intelligence and passed the chamber 99-1.

Removal of this provision will ensure children, youth, and families continue to benefit from state laws protecting young users from online harms; safeguard health care patient data, licensing and regulations for health care professionals; continue to preserve the patient and doctor relationship when seeking services; and more.

“We are grateful to Senator Blackburn for her leadership in passing this amendment," stated EDC Board President Christine Peat, PhD, FAED, LP. "Doing so means that sensible safeguards can remain in place to help mitigate online harms, and we are confident such actions will protect vulnerable populations.”

The EDC expresses our gratitude for each amendment sponsor, U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), and the U.S. Senators that voted in favor of this amendment.

The Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action is a federal advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. The EDC advances the recognition of eating disorders as a public health priority throughout the United States.

The Bulimia Anorexia Nervosa Association (BANA; Canada)

Podcast Series presents

EPISODE 22 — Respecting a World with Biodiversity, featuring our own Scout Silverstein, MPH (USA)

EPISODE 23 — The Impact of Social Trends on Body Image and Mental Health, featuring our own Dr. Anita Federici, Ph.D., CPsych., FAED (Canada)

EPISODE 24 — Beyond Borders: Mental Health, Culture, and the POC Experience, featuring our own Emily Tam and our own Ary Maharaj (both from Canada’s National Eating Disorders Information Centre)

Received 1 July 2025 via the latest edition of the Be Yourself Magazine, published by the Bulimia Anorexia Nervosa Association (BANA), which, according to their website, “is a not-for-profit, registered charity, community-based organization servicing Windsor-Essex County in Ontario, Canada. Since 1983, we have been committed to the provision of specialized treatment, education and support services for individuals affected directly and indirectly by eating disorders.”

The BANA Be Yourself Podcast (Happy. Healthy. Hopeful) is hosted by Maryum Chaudhry, BANA Health Educator.

ML NOTE 2: I strongly encourage you to scroll through the Be Yourself Magazine. There is a detailed and thought-provoking essay by Dr. Frederici and James Downs entitled Ending Well: Rethinking How Eating Disorders Treatment Finishes. There is also a long, in terms of pages not text, article by Heather Leblanc, MSW, entitled The History of Western Body Ideals, Part III: Law and Labour Practices, 1800 - 1900. The many pictures and photographs are alone are worth your time.

EPISODE 22 — Respecting a World with Biodiversity, featuring our own Scout Silverstein, MPH (Listen [~38 min] at: https://bana.ca/wp-content/uploads/Kia-Podcast-.mp3)

EPISODE 23 — The Impact of Social Trends on Body Image and Mental Health, featuring our own Dr. Anita Federici, Ph.D., CPsych., FAED (Listen [~50 min] at: https://bana.ca/wp-content/uploads/Episode-23-The-Impact-of-Social-Trends-on-Body-Image-and-Mental-Health-f.-Dr.-Anita-Federici.mp3)

EPISODE 24 — Beyond Borders: Mental Health, Culture, and the POC Experience, featuring our own Emily Tam and our own Ary Maharaj, both from Canada’s National Eating Disorders Information Centre (NEDIC). (Listen [~50 min] at: https://bana.ca/wp-content/uploads/NEDIC-_-POC.mp3)

Research Publication Categories in This Newsletter

(i) Prevention; (ii) Theories/Models & Critical Analyses (n = 2); (iii) Diabetes, Eating Disorders, and Disordered Eating (n = 2); (iv) Nature, Course, and Correlates of EDs, Part 1 (n = 3); and (v) Food Addiction, Part 3 (n = 3)

CONGRATULATIONS to our own

Drs. K. Jean Forney (USA) and Lindsay Bodell (Canada) and colleague for publication of the Theories/Models article in #2.
Dr. Rachel Rodgers (USA/France) for publication of the Critical Analysis article in #3.
Dr. Janet Treasure (England) and colleagues for publication of the Diabetes and Eating Disorders research article in #4.
Drs. April Smith (USA) and Cheri Levinson (USA) and colleagues for publication of the Nature/Correlates of Eating Disorders commentary in #6.
Dr. Fernando Fernández-Aranda (Catalonia/Spain) and colleagues for publication of the Nature/Correlates of Eating Disorders research article in #7.
Drs. Andrea Phillipou (Australia), Ulrike Schmidt (England), Erica Neill (USA), Sarah Miles (Australia), and Kamryn Eddy (USA) and colleague for publication of the Anorexia Nervosa overview/commentary in #8.
Dr. Ashley Gearhardt (USA) and colleagues for publication of the Food Addiction research article in #11.

PREVENTION

1. Sarraj, S., Berry, S. L., & Burton, A. L. (2025). Body image programs delivered in Australian schools. Nutrients, 17(13), 2118. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17132118

Full text available for download at: https://tinyurl.com/5p8yvbxp

ABSTRACT. Background: Eating disorders (EDs) are complex conditions with significant psychological, physical, and economic impacts, prompting national calls to prioritize ED prevention. Despite numerous prevention programs being implemented in Australian schools, no review to date has systematically mapped their scope, design, and outcomes.

Aims: This scoping review aimed to map the current landscape of school-based ED prevention programs conducted in Australia. The review focused on their methodological features, participant and school characteristics, data collected, and key findings. Method: Four electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and Scopus) were searched for relevant papers published from 2010 to February 2025. Studies were included if they reported on a school-based ED prevention program targeting Australian students. Data were extracted and narratively synthesized.

Results: A total of 23 studies were identified, representing a range of universal and selective prevention programs. Programs varied in design, delivery, and target populations, with most focusing on students in Grades 7–8. Universal media literacy programs like Media Smart showed good outcomes for boys and girls, while several selective programs demonstrated improvements in body image for girls. Interventions targeting boys or using mindfulness approaches often lacked effectiveness or caused unintended harm. Major gaps in the literature include a lack of qualitative research, limited long-term follow-up, and minimal focus on protective factors.

Conclusion: While a range of ED prevention programs have been trialed in Australian schools, few have been rigorously evaluated or demonstrated sustained effectiveness. There is a need for developmentally appropriate, gender-sensitive, and culturally inclusive prevention efforts in schools. Future research should use diverse methods, include underrepresented groups, assess long-term outcomes, integrate broader sociocultural factors shaping students’ environment, and consider enhancing protective factors.

Theories/Models & Critical Analyses

2. Forney, K. J., Hillman, A. R., & Bodell, L. P. (2025). Moderate to vigorous physical activity as a cause of dietary restriction in eating disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24494

Full text available for download at: https://tinyurl.com/3uu96c76

ABSTRACT. Objective: The mechanisms that facilitate prolonged dietary restriction in eating disorders, particularly in the absence of binge eating, remain poorly understood. The activity-based anorexia model and basic science in exercise physiology suggest that moderate to vigorous physical activity leads to reduced energy intake relative to metabolic needs. This reduction in energy intake is even greater when individuals exercise in the fasted, compared to fed, state.

Method: We propose a model in which moderate to vigorous physical activity facilitates increased dietary restriction within eating disorders. We propose that moderate to vigorous physical activity, regardless of motivation, reduces ghrelin, increases glucagon-like peptide 1 and peptide YY, and reduces food reward. These mechanisms, in turn, contribute to reduced relative energy intake.

Results: We review relevant rodent and human literatures to evaluate the model and identify observational and experimental research designs to test these hypotheses. Conclusion: Understanding how and when moderate to vigorous physical activity contributes to dietary restriction has important implications for tailoring eating disorder treatment.

3. Rodgers, R. F. (2025). Love your body! An exploration of new empowerment discourse as related to body capital, and body image and eating concerns among women. Body Image, 54. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2025.101930

Email address for correspondence: r.rodgers@northeastern.edu

ABSTRACT. Over the past years, a new discourse referred to as “Love Your Body” (LYB) has emerged as a dominant and important gendered discourse related to women’s appearance within the context of the commercialization of feminism. Although allegedly aiming to promote positive individual-level outcomes among women, including positive body image and self-confidence, the LYB discourse contains multiple contradictions and tensions. Furthermore, it is aligned with the current oppressive system of body capital, which confers privilege on some individuals based on their physical appearance.

As such, it may, in contrast, increase pressures on women to continue to adhere to unrealistic appearance ideals, ground their self-worth in their appearance, and undermine efforts of resistance against social appearance-related pressures. In this way, rather than alleviate body image and eating concerns and related body change behaviors, it may exacerbate them and have a detrimental effect on women’s psychological wellbeing and social functioning. In addition, the LYB discourse may have collective negative effects by impeding social change towards equity and social justice.

The data related to the effects of the LYB discourse to date are scant, representing an important gap in our understanding of how this discourse and representations of contemporary postmodern femininities may affect women. Increasing our understanding of these effects is important to better understand how this discourse operates as well as its effects at the individual and collective level, and to further inform efforts to decrease sociocultural pressures upon women and to provide them with the critical tools to identify and resist them.

DIABETES, EATING DISORDERS, AND DISORDERED EATING

4. Stadler, M., Zaremba, N., Harrison, A., Brown, J., Pillay, D., Allan, J., Tan, R., Ayis, S., Konstantara, E., Treasure, J., Hopkins, D., & Ismail, K. (2025). Safety of a co-designed cognitive behavioural therapy intervention for people with type 1 diabetes and eating disorders (STEADY): A feasibility randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, 50. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.101205

Full text available for download at: https://tinyurl.com/2wwud5js

SUMMARY. Background: Safe management of people with Type 1 diabetes and EAting Disorders studY (STEADY) is a complex intervention for people with type 1 diabetes and mild-to-moderate disordered eating (T1DE) integrating cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with diabetes education. Aim was to test feasibility of STEADY in a randomised controlled trial. Methods: Feasibility parallel-group, randomised (blocks of four) controlled open-label trial (RCT) of STEADY against usual care (Control) at King's College London, UK. Participants were referred by clinicians or self-referred via social media advertisements. Forty adults with T1DE (Hba1c < 15%, body mass index 15–35 kg/m², age ≥ 18 years) were randomised. STEADY was delivered in 12 sessions by a CBT-trained Diabetes Specialist Nurse through video-conferencing and mobile app.

Main outcome at 6 months post-randomisation was feasibility. Baseline mental health data (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5, SCID-5RV), and secondary biomedical outcomes (HbA1c; glucose time in range; TIR) and person-reported outcome measures (PROM: Diabetes Eating Problems Survey-Revised, DEPS-R; Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire Short, EDE-QS; Type 1 Diabetes Distress Scale, T1DDS; Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment, GAD-7; Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9; Impact of Diabetes Profile, DIDP) were collected. Analyses were conducted as intention-to-treat. ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT05140564

Findings: Of the 98 screened, 40 participants with T1DE were randomised (recruitment rate: 40.81%; 95% CI: 31.60%, 50.72%): 38 women, 1 man, 1 trans man (37 White, 1 White/Asian, 1 Black; 39 ± 11 years old, diabetes duration 22 ± 15 years, HbA1c 9.1 ± 2.6%). The drop-out rate was 3/20 = 15% (4.39%, 36.55%) in STEADY and 2/20 = 10% (1.57%, 31.32%) in Control.

STEADY reported lower GAD-7 (5.75 ± 2.89 vs 10.18 ± 5.31, p = 0.0060) and higher DIDP (3.13 ± 0.63 vs 2.46 ± 0.87, p = 0.020) at follow-up compared with Control, indicating lower anxiety and higher diabetes-specific quality-of-life. Compared to baseline, STEADY improved in DEPS-R, EDE-QS, GAD-7, PHQ-9 and T1DDS. Interpretation: The STEADY-feasibility RCT demonstrated proof-of-concept for feasibility and mental health improvements in T1DE without deteriorating glycaemic control. A full scale RCT of STEADY will test effectiveness and implementation.

5. Hartlaub, J. M., & Hill, E. M. (2025). Disordered eating and intentional insulin restriction among young adults with type 1 diabetes: An examination of diabetes distress and appearance-related perceptions as correlates. International Journal of Eating Disorders. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24490

Email address for correspondence: ehill@wcupa.edu

ABSTRACT. Purpose/Objectives: Individuals with type 1 diabetes engage in disordered eating behaviors at twice the rate of the general population, including intentional insulin restriction to avoid weight gain. The present study examined possible correlates (diabetes distress, appearance-related perceptions) of dietary restraint, diabetes-specific disordered eating, and intentional insulin restriction.

Method: Participants were 199 individuals with type 1 diabetes aged 18–40 years recruited via Prolific. They completed a Qualtrics survey measuring diabetes distress, weight esteem, physical appearance comparisons on social media (PACSM) and an item focused on perceptions of BMI as an indicator of health. Participants also completed questionnaires focused on disordered eating—diabetes-specific disordered eating and dietary restraint, as well as an item capturing intentional insulin restriction.

Results: Diabetes distress emerged as a correlate of all three indicator variables and was the strongest correlate of diabetes-specific disordered eating and intentional insulin restriction. PACSM was the strongest correlate for dietary restraint, and weight esteem was significant in both disordered eating models (diabetes-specific, dietary restraint). Diabetes distress and appearance-related variables (weight esteem, PACSM) explained unique variance in disordered eating among young adults with type 1 diabetes. Future research should examine these variables in clinical settings.

NATURE, COURSE, AND CORRELATES OF EDs, Part 1 of 5

6. Lusich, R., Harris, L., Butler, R., Smith, A., & Levinson, C. (2025). Improving the diagnosis of OSFED across clinical and research settings: the development of a diagnostic flowchart. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2025.2518374

Full text available for download at: https://tinyurl.com/y9dyavpd

ABSTRACT. Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorder (OSFED) has the highest prevalence of any eating disorder (ED), yet limited resources are available to help clinicians and researchers reliably differentiate between the different OSFED diagnoses. A tool capable of clarifying differences between OSFED subtypes and other EDs is needed to ensure that individuals receive accurate and specific diagnoses across clinical and research settings.

To this end, the present report describes the development of a diagnostic flowchart developed for use in a research laboratory to allow research assistants without specialized training in EDs to make accurate and reliable diagnoses. We also provide guidelines for use of the flowchart alongside existing ED assessments and discuss evidence demonstrating its utility in improving interrater reliability among diagnostic raters, even those with minimal training. We envision this flowchart as an adaptable tool which will continue to be modified as the ED field works towards consensus definitions of OSFED diagnoses.

7. Tempia Valenta, S., Beghelli, V., Marcolini, F., Rosinska, M., De Ronchi, D., Fernández-Aranda, F., & Atti, A. R. (2025). Emotional dysregulation, obsessive-compulsive traits, and eating disorders: Three constructs for one spectrum? Journal of Endocrinological Investigation. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-025-02617-1

Full text available for download at: https://tinyurl.com/fb43nwyb

ABSTRACT. Purpose: Dysfunctional eating behaviors are associated with emotional dysregulation and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Traditionally, obsessiveness has been linked to anorexia nervosa (AN), while dysregulation has been associated with bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED). However, this dichotomous view fails to account for the frequent diagnostic crossover observed among individuals with eating disorders (EDs). This study aimed to identify specific clusters in individuals with EDs based on emotional dysregulation, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, eating symptoms, and body uneasiness.

Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted at the ED Unit of Clinical Psychiatry, Bologna, Italy. Participants (N = 360) completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R), Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), and Body Uneasiness Test (BUT). Hierarchical and two-step cluster analyses were applied. Cluster differences were examined using Kruskal-Wallis tests and post-hoc comparisons.

Results: The analysis identified three clusters with increasing levels of emotional dysregulation, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, eating symptoms, and body uneasiness (Cluster size ratio = 2.04; Silhouette = 0.30). Symptom severity ranged from more functional (Cluster 1) to moderate (Cluster 2) to more dysfunctional (Cluster 3). Conclusion: This study identified three clusters representing a progressive gradient in the symptoms assessed, challenging the traditional dichotomy linking obsessiveness solely to AN and dysregulation solely to BN/BED.

8. Phillipou, A., Schmidt, U., Neill, E., Miles, S., McGorry, P., & Eddy, K, T. (2025). Anorexia nervosa—Facts, frustrations, and the future. JAMA Psychiatry. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.0812

Email address for correspondence: andrea.phillipou@orygen.org.au

ABSTRACT. Importance: Anorexia nervosa is a prevalent psychiatric illness associated with exceptionally poor outcomes, including high rates of morbidity and premature mortality. Current evidence-based treatments for anorexia nervosa were developed several decades ago and have limited efficacy. The anorexia nervosa field-and the eating disorders field more broadly-has yet to make significant scientific breakthroughs that lead to acceptable outcomes for people with anorexia nervosa.

Findings: This Special Communication highlights how the concurrent psychological and physical symptoms of anorexia nervosa contribute to 2 major problems that have held the anorexia nervosa research field back and hindered research innovations: (1) overspecialization and siloing of the field and (2) an overly narrow focus on weight restoration in treatment.

Conclusions and relevance: Specific recommendations are made to help progress the field, including taking a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to research with colleagues from related disciplines, as well as taking a more holistic approach to understanding and treating anorexia nervosa.

FOOD ADDICTION, Part 3 of 4

9. Coquery, N., Som, M., Serrand, Y., Guittière, M. O., Bannier, E., Lainé, F., Constant, A., Moirand, R., Stice, E., Val-Laillet, D., & Thibault, R. (2025). Food addiction severity is associated with decreased functional connectivity and responses to palatable food pictures in brain areas involved in emotion and cognitive control. Clinical Nutrition, 51, 115-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2025.06.001

Full text available for download at: https://tinyurl.com/4k7f9ca6

SUMMARY. Background & aims: Patients with obesity frequently report impulsivity or loss control of food intake, reflecting the dysfunction of brain regions involved in reward and cognitive control processing related to food addiction (FA). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) may help to identify the cognitive processes underlying FA. In patients with obesity, we aimed at identifying (i) fMRI specific responses in brain regions involved in hedonic and motivational processes (striatum), and cognitive control (e.g. prefrontal cortex) according to FA severity; (ii) whether FA severity is related to anxiety and/or depression symptoms.

Methods: In this prospective, observational, monocentric study, forty women with moderate or severe obesity were recruited. FA was diagnosed with the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) 2.0. Binge Eating Scale (BES), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was also completed. One fMRI session that included fMRI and resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) assessed brain responses to palatable food images and functional connectivity. Statistical analysis included general linear model analysis and multivariate parametric statistics.

Results: Twenty-three (57.5 %) of the 40 included patients suffered from FA; Mean (± standard deviation) age, 36.6 ± 8.6 yr; Body mass index, 39.2 ± 2.9. In the food task condition, both low and high appetizing images activated similar brain regions, and FA severity was associated with reduced activation in the dorsal striatum and pre-central gyrus for high appetizing images (cluster: pFWE<0.05 family-wise error correction; peak: p < 0.001 uncorrected). In the resting-state condition, FA severity correlated negatively with functional connectivity (FC) between several brain regions, such as the anterior cingulate cortex and left accumbens, and positively with FC between the left amygdala and hippocampus (cluster/connection: pFDR<0.05, false discovery rate correction). FA severity was associated to higher binge eating, but not anxiety and depression symptoms.

Conclusion: Brain profiles of patients with obesity are related to FA severity. FA severity is associated with impaired cortico-striatal functional connectivity between brain regions involved in motivation, decision-making and inhibitory control. Interindividual variability in brain responses suggests that dedicated therapeutic strategies might be helpful for obese patients with FA.

10. Bonder, R., Kuk, J. L., Ardern, C. I., Wharton, S., Kamran, E., & Davis, C. (2025). Grazing and food addiction: Associations between varied patterns of overconsumption and addictive-like eating. Appetite, 204. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2024.107768

Email address for correspondence: rbonder@yorku.ca

ABSTRACT. Background: Food addiction (FA) research has primarily concentrated on binge eating as a symptom of this condition. However, FA may encompass various overeating behaviours, including compulsive grazing – the repetitive consumption of small amounts of food with loss of control. This study extends our previous research by including a clinical sample to investigate whether compulsive grazing exists in a population with higher prevalence and severity of FA. It also examines whether weight or sex moderates the severity or frequency of FA.

Methods: Adults between the ages of 20 and 50 years with obesity were recruited from a weight-management clinic (N = 437). Participants completed an online questionnaire to assess various eating behaviours (binge eating, compulsive grazing, reward-based eating) and related personality measures (impulsivity, addictive personality traits). Multiple and logistic regression modelling were used with the Yale Food Addiction Scale symptom count and diagnosis as the dependent variables, respectively. A chi-square test of independence and an analysis of variance were used to determine sex differences.

Results: Compulsive grazing was a significant factor in FA diagnosis and symptom severity, confirming earlier work. Binge eating was a significant factor in FA symptom severity. Additionally, females from a weight-management clinic sample were more likely to receive an FA diagnosis than females from the general population. No sex differences were found in males or in the symptom score option for FA. Conclusions: These findings suggest that various compulsive overeating patterns encompass FA. Individuals with obesity and co-morbid FA may require specialized treatments, which may benefit from sex-specific differentiations

11. Cummings, J. R., Treharne, N., Vainik, U.,Mason, A. E., Nansel, T. R., Lipsky, L. M., & Gearhardt, A. G. (2025). Development and validation of a brief form of the Anticipated Effects of Food Scale. Appetite, 204. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2024.107843

Email address for correspondence: jenna.cummings@liverpool.ac.uk

ABSTRACT. Identifying malleable influences on eating behaviours will advance our ability to improve physical and mental health. Food-related emotional expectancies are the anticipated positive and negative emotions from eating different foods and are theorised to affect eating behaviour, and to be amenable to change. The Anticipated Effects of Food Scale (AEFS) assesses food-related emotional expectancies using 62 one-word items; however, a shorter questionnaire would be useful in large and clinical studies.

In the present study, we developed a brief version of the AEFS, named the AEFS-Brief (AEFS-B), using a data-driven approach. We identified candidate items from all-subset correlations with the AEFS and item-level correlations with eating behaviours in two community samples (n = 247, n = 718), and we assessed internal consistency and validity of the AEFS-B. We further assessed internal consistency and validity in two independent samples (n = 200, n = 108) that completed a ‘bogus’ taste test or 24-hour dietary recalls.

Results indicated that the 28 one-word-item AEFS-B had good internal consistency and convergent validity with the AEFS. Analysis with AEFS-B scores reproduced associations of AEFS scores with intake of added sugars, symptoms of food addiction, eating to cope motives, and ad libitum food intake. We also demonstrated novel associations of AEFS and AEFS-B scores with emotional eating and diet quality. The AEFS-B appears to be a reliable and valid brief measure of food-related emotional expectancies that can be used in cohort and population studies, ecological momentary assessments, and for clinical populations in which participant burden is high.

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