13 research outputs found
Beyond General Food Craving: Sex Differences in Food-Specific Craving Identified using Item Response Theory
No full textBeyond General Food Craving: Sex Differences in Food-Specific Craving Identified using Item Response Theory
No full textExploring and Connecting the Within-person Factor Structures of Psychosis-related EMA and Clinician-Rated Symptoms
No full textThese are the slides from a presentation given at HiTOP Conference on 03/28/2025.The transdiagnostic approach to understanding affective and non-affective psychotic disorders highlights the need for examining factor structures. Recent studies have explored transdiagnostic factors across individuals. However, within-person factor structure remains under-investigated. Given the importance of daily symptom tracking in outpatient settings, mapping the transdiagnostic factor structure onto daily affective and symptomatic experiences is crucial. We employed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of self-reported daily symptoms and monthly clinical interviews to examine how within-person transdiagnostic factors align with clinical factor structures over time. A sample of 70 outpatients with bipolar, psychotic, and related disorders were recruited from McLean Psychiatric Hospital, resulting in 31,869 EMA observations and 965 clinical interviews. Factor analyses identified six latent EMA factors: irritability, positive activation, negative arousal, distress, anxious stress, and social activity; and seven clinical factors: mania, disorganized thinking, affective and cognitive depressive symptoms, interpersonal and intrapersonal negative symptoms, and anxiety. Multilevel modeling will assess associations between EMA and clinical factors. Findings are expected to enhance understanding of within-person transdiagnostic structures in psychotic and related disorders, aiding symptom monitoring and personalized treatments
Examination of Hyper-Palatable Foods and Nutrient Characteristics using Globally Crowdsourced Data
No full textAssociations between Alcohol-Free Sources of Reinforcement and the Frequency of Alcohol and Cannabis Co-Use among College Freshmen
No full textCo-use of alcohol and cannabis is common among young adults in the United States. A behavioral economics framework indicates that greater engagement in substance-free sources of reinforcement may be protective against co-use frequency. The current study tested the association between proportionate alcohol-free reinforcement and the frequency of co-use among college freshmen. Participants (N = 86) were freshmen who enrolled in a freshman orientation course and completed surveys at the beginning of the semester. Past month alcohol use, cannabis use, and reinforcement from alcohol-free and alcohol-involved activities were assessed. A zero-inflated Poisson regression was used to test the association between proportionate alcohol-free reinforcement and days of co-use. The results indicated that proportionate alcohol-free reinforcement was negatively associated with co-use days in the count model when controlling for alcohol use days and gender as covariates (β: −3.28, p = 0.016). Proportionate alcohol-free reinforcement did not significantly differentiate individuals who did not engage in co-use in the zero-inflated model (β: −1.68, p = 0.497). The study suggested that greater proportionate alcohol-free reinforcement may be associated with lower engagement in the co-use of alcohol and cannabis among young adults. Increasing engagement in alcohol-free sources of reinforcement may be considered a target for co-use prevention or harm reduction efforts
US Infant Formulas Contain Primarily Added Sugars: An Analysis of the Infant Formulas on the US Market
No full textThe Effects of Hyper-Palatable Foods on Energy Intake Measured using Mobile Food Photography Methodology
No full textABSTRACT
Objective
Hyper-palatable foods (HPF) are designed with combinations of nutrients that serve to maximize their rewarding effects during consumption. Due to their artificially rewarding properties, HPF are hypothesized to lead to greater energy intake within a meal. However, this premise has not been tested in free living conditions. The current study examined the effects of HPF on 1) measured energy intake and 2) self-reported overeating, assessed within eating occasions using smartphone-based food photography methodology.
Method
A total of 29 participants reported food intake and eating experiences (N = 372) in real-time for 4 days using smartphone-based food photography methodology. HPF were identified using a standardized definition. Bayesian multilevel modeling was conducted to investigate the within-person effects of proportional calorie intake from HPF (%kcal HPF) on total energy intake and subjective overeating within eating occasions. Pre-meal hunger and proportional energy intake from high energy dense foods were included as covariates in the models.
Results
Results from Bayesian multi-level modeling revealed that when participants consumed more %kcal HPF during eating occasions relative to their average, they consumed greater total energy (median β = 0.09, 95% HDI [0.02, 0.16], pd = 99.62%). There was a >99% probability of positive association between %kcal HPF and total energy intake within an eating occasion. Additionally, the results suggested that when participants consumed more %kcal HPF during eating occasions relative to their average, participants endorsed higher eating more than planned (median β = 0.11, 95% HDI [-0.02, 0.25], pd = 95.74%) and eating despite feeling full (median β = 0.09, 95% HDI [-0.04, 0.23], pd = 91.02%).
Conclusions
The findings supported the premise that HPF themselves may yield greater energy intake and eating despite satiety, measured in real-time and free living conditions
The Effects of Hyper-Palatable Foods on Energy Intake Measured using Mobile Food Photography Methodology
No full textABSTRACT
Objective
Hyper-palatable foods (HPF) are designed with combinations of nutrients that serve to maximize their rewarding effects during consumption. Due to their artificially rewarding properties, HPF are hypothesized to lead to greater energy intake within a meal. However, this premise has not been tested in free living conditions. The current study examined the effects of HPF on 1) measured energy intake and 2) self-reported overeating, assessed within eating occasions using smartphone-based food photography methodology.
Method
A total of 29 participants reported food intake and eating experiences (N = 372) in real-time for 4 days using smartphone-based food photography methodology. HPF were identified using a standardized definition. Bayesian multilevel modeling was conducted to investigate the within-person effects of proportional calorie intake from HPF (%kcal HPF) on total energy intake and subjective overeating within eating occasions. Pre-meal hunger and proportional energy intake from high energy dense foods were included as covariates in the models.
Results
Results from Bayesian multi-level modeling revealed that when participants consumed more %kcal HPF during eating occasions relative to their average, they consumed greater total energy (median β = 0.09, 95% HDI [0.02, 0.16], pd = 99.62%). There was a >99% probability of positive association between %kcal HPF and total energy intake within an eating occasion. Additionally, the results suggested that when participants consumed more %kcal HPF during eating occasions relative to their average, participants endorsed higher eating more than planned (median β = 0.11, 95% HDI [-0.02, 0.25], pd = 95.74%) and eating despite feeling full (median β = 0.09, 95% HDI [-0.04, 0.23], pd = 91.02%).
Conclusions
The findings supported the premise that HPF themselves may yield greater energy intake and eating despite satiety, measured in real-time and free living conditions
Examination of hyper-palatable foods and their nutrient characteristics using globally crowdsourced data
No full textBeyond general food craving: sex differences in food-specific craving identified using item response theory
No full textBackgroundFood craving plays a significant role in food choice and excess energy intake. While prior research has predominantly examined food craving as a general construct (e.g., craving for foods overall), this approach may obscure important variability in craving for specific foods. The current study aimed to address this limitation by examining craving for specific foods (food-item level) and examining differences across sex in food item craving, while controlling for overall food craving.MethodsThe sample (N = 583) was collected via crowdsourcing. The Food Craving Inventory was used to assess craving for 28 food items. Using item response theory (IRT), a partial credit model was employed to investigate which food item was easier or more commonly craved, while holding overall food craving level constant across participants. Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis identified sex differences in craving for specific food items, with effect sizes calculated to interpret the magnitude of DIF.ResultsThe partial credit model revealed that pizza and chocolate were the easiest or most commonly craved, while gravy and cornbread were the most difficult to crave. DIF analysis suggested that savory items were more difficult (or less commonly) craved among females with medium effect sizes (i.e., Cohen's D) ranging from 0.53 to 0.80, whereas sweets were more difficult for males to crave, with effect sizes ranging from 0.42 to 0.49.ConclusionFindings indicated that food craving may vary depending on specific foods and sex
