Need for eating food irregularly across the day or food craving depends on several variables
[1]. When individual differences are examined, food craving is typically associated with
negative mood, body image, body dissatisfaction, and self-esteem, in both clinical and nonclinical
samples [2]. Less is known however on how mood, body dissatisfaction, and food
craving covariate daily, when within-person fluctuations are inspected.
Aim of the present study was to explore how variation in food craving across the day is
associated with fluctuations in positive mood, negative mood, and body dissatisfaction, in a
non-clinical sample of adults. The participants (N = 24, 12 males, 6 of them on a diet, 12
females, 5 of them on a diet) reported 3 times per day (11 am, 4 pm, 9 pm), for 7 days, on
their present positive (7 adjectives) and negative mood (13 adjectives, selected from “Profile
of Mood States”- POMS, and “Positive and Negative Affect Schedule”- PANAS), body
dissatisfaction (9 items, selected from EDI-2 and EDAM, for both males and female), and
food craving (7 items, selected from FCQ-T [3]). Data were analyzed via multi-level
modeling; repeated measures were centered within-person, that is, they were centered on
individual means.
Results showed a covariation between food craving and body dissatisfaction, with higher
levels of food craving being reported when participants referred higher dissatisfaction with
their body shape (fixed effects: intercept = 1.87, p < 0.001; slope = 0.35, p < 0.001), and vice
versa, with poorer control over food craving favoring momentary increases in body
dissatisfaction (fixed effects: intercept = 2.28, p < 0.001; slope = 0.17, p < 0.001).
Fluctuations in food craving were also negatively associated with positive mood, but in
participants on a diet only, with a significant second-level interaction effect between Positive
Mood and Being on a diet (p < 0.05). No association emerged when fluctuations in negative
mood and food craving were inspected.
The present study shows that food craving and body dissatisfaction covary also when
momentary fluctuations are observed [2]. Contrary to results observed in between-people
studies, the present within-person study suggests that food craving and negative mood are not
associated [1]. Rather, control over food craving increases positive mood, and vice versa,
thus suggesting that positive mood might effectively work as a protective factor over food
craving in people on a diet. A larger sample is needed to confirm the present findings.
