Appetite 50 (2008) 469–476 Research Report Impulsivity is associated with the disinhibition but not restraint factor from the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire Martin R. Yeomans à , Margaret Leitch, Sirous Mobini Department of Psychology, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK Received 5 February 2007; received in revised form 11 October 2007; accepted 15 October 2007 Abstract Recent data implicate impulsivity as a personality trait associated with obesity, binge eating and restrained eating. However, impulsivity is recognised as having multiple dimensions, and it remains unclear which aspects of impulsive behaviour best predict disordered eating. To try and elucidate further the relationship between impulsivity and eating behaviour, 147 women completed a behavioural measure and two self-report measures of impulsivity along with the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ). Overall scores on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-II), along with scores on the Non-planning and Motor Subscales of the BIS-II, were higher in women scoring high on the TFEQ disinhibition (TFEQ-D) scale. Likewise, women scoring high on the TFEQ-D showed more impulsive choice when discounting hypothetical monetary awards. However, responses to measures of functional relative to dysfunctional impulsivity did not differ depending on TFEQ-D score. No measure of impulsivity was related to scores on the TFEQ restraint scale. These data suggest that a tendency to act impulsively is associated with a tendency to overeat, and may be a factor which predicts the likelihood of the development of binge eating and the breakdown of dieting. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Dietary restraint; Binge eating; Impulsivity Introduction Two recent changes in our relationship with food have major implications for individuals and society. On the one hand, the worldwide increase in incidence of obesity, often referred to as the obesity epidemic, has major consequences for future health. At the same time there is some evidence for an increase in incidence of eating disorders (Hsu, 1996), especially in adolescents (Kohn & Golden, 2001). However, many individuals remain able to cope with the ‘‘obesegenic environment’’ without developing excess weight or clini- cally defined eating disorders. One way of moving forward both in understanding the root cause of obesity and disordered eating, and potentially assisting in the develop- ment of more effective programmes to promote weight loss and successful healthy eating, is to identify those personal characteristics which make some individuals more prone to developing eating-related problems. The present research explored one potential factor, impulsivity, which could contribute to the ability of individuals to resist overeating in the modern environment. Impulsivity is usually used to denote a tendency to behave in a rash way, with a lack of planning and with less forethought about the consequences of immediate actions (see Moeller, Barratt, Dougherty, Schmitz, & Swann, 2001 for review). Psychological research recognises that impul- sivity has multiple-dimensions and consequently a number of different tools have been developed to explore the nature of impulsivity and its relationship with a wide range of psychopathological conditions (Alessi & Petry, 2003; Chamberlain & Sahakian, 2007; Hinshaw, 2003; Nower, Derevensky, & Gupta, 2004; Reynolds, 2006; Reynolds et al., 2007). Critically, there have been a number of reports suggesting that impulsivity may be a characteristic of people who exhibit aspects of abnormal eating. The most frequent observation has been higher scores on a ques- tionnaire-based measures of impulsivity in women classified as bulimic (Penas-Lledo, Vaz, Ramos, & Waller, 2002) or having binge-eating disorder (Nasser, Gluck, & ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/appet 0195-6663/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2007.10.002 à Corresponding author. E-mail address: martin@sussex.ac.uk (M.R. Yeomans).