TY - JOUR
T1 - The attraction of sugar
T2 - An association between body mass index and impaired avoidance action tendencies of sweet snacks
AU - Maas, J.
AU - Woud, M.L.
AU - Keijsers, G.P.J.
AU - Rinck, M.
AU - Becker, E. S.
AU - Wiers, R. W.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - The present study investigated implicit approach-avoidance action tendencies towards snack foods (pictorial Approach-Avoidance Task), and implicit approach-avoidance associations (verbal approach-avoidance Single-Target IAT) and affective associations (verbal positive-negative Single-Target IAT) with snack foods in a group of unselected student participants (N = 83). Participants with higher BMI scores had more difficulty to avoid sweet, but not salty snack foods on the Approach-Avoidance Task. Furthermore, as shown by both Single-Target IATs, there were no significant associations between BMI on the one hand and approach-avoidance associations and positive-negative affective associations on the other hand. BMI did show a positive correlation with errors made on all tasks. The results found on the Approach-Avoidance Task suggest that not increased approach, but impaired avoidance of snacks, might be related to increased BMI. However, more research is needed to further disentangle these findings.
AB - The present study investigated implicit approach-avoidance action tendencies towards snack foods (pictorial Approach-Avoidance Task), and implicit approach-avoidance associations (verbal approach-avoidance Single-Target IAT) and affective associations (verbal positive-negative Single-Target IAT) with snack foods in a group of unselected student participants (N = 83). Participants with higher BMI scores had more difficulty to avoid sweet, but not salty snack foods on the Approach-Avoidance Task. Furthermore, as shown by both Single-Target IATs, there were no significant associations between BMI on the one hand and approach-avoidance associations and positive-negative affective associations on the other hand. BMI did show a positive correlation with errors made on all tasks. The results found on the Approach-Avoidance Task suggest that not increased approach, but impaired avoidance of snacks, might be related to increased BMI. However, more research is needed to further disentangle these findings.
U2 - 10.5127/jep.052415
DO - 10.5127/jep.052415
M3 - Article
VL - 8
SP - 40
EP - 54
JO - Journal of Experimental Psychopathology
JF - Journal of Experimental Psychopathology
SN - 2043-8087
IS - 1
ER -