Executive functioning in overweight individuals with and without loss-of-control eating

Abstract

Objective: The current study sought to examine executive function (EF) in overweight individuals with and without loss-of-control (LOC) eating.

Method: Eighty overweight and obese individuals entering a behavioural weight loss trial with (n=18) and without (n=62) LOC eating were administered a clinical interview and neuropsychological battery designed to assess self-regulatory control, planning, delayed discounting and working memory.

Results: After controlling for age, IQ and depression, individuals with LOC eating performed worse on tasks of planning and self-regulatory control and did not differ in performance on other tasks.

Discussion: Results indicate that overweight individuals with LOC eating display relative deficits in EF compared with overweight individuals without LOC eating. Planning and self-regulatory control deficits in particular may contribute to dysregulated eating patterns, increasing susceptibility to LOC episodes. Future research should examine how EF deficits relate to treatment outcome.

Keywords: binge eating; executive function; loss-of-control-eating; neuropsychology; obesity.