COGNITIONS OF RESTRAINED AND UNRESTRAINED EATERS UNDER FASTING AND NONFASTING CONDITIONS

It has recently been suggested that the cognitions of unrestrained eat ers and those of individuals with eating disorders are at opposing end s of a continuum, with restrained eaters occupying an intermediate pos ition. The present study explored the everyday cognitions of 10 restra ined and 10 unrestrained eaters under fasting and nonfasting condition s using a random thought-sampling technique. Analysis of the thought t ranscripts yielded a number of categories related to food, self, and o thers. The results revealed no differences between restrained and unre strained eaters in terms of their relative percentages of thoughts abo ut food and self. Differences were evident, however, in the nature of their cognitions. The results from this study suggest that the continu um hypothesis may hold only when it is the nature of cognitions, not t heir frequency, that is considered. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd