Eating Behavior in Response to Food-Cue Exposure: Examining the Cue-Reactivity and Counteractive-Control Models

Many studies have demonstrated that those high in weight-related concerns cat more after food-cue exposure, which is consistent with predictions of the cue reactivity model. However, the Counteractive-control model predicts that exposure to fattening foods activates dieting-related goals and behavior in weight-concerned individuals. Although these models seem incongruous, the authors hypothesized that the salience of the cue could represent I critical factor in determining which model is activated. The authors predicted that attending to salient food cues would result in increased intake (cue reactivity) in individuals with high weight related concern,,, whereas incidental food-cue exposure would result in decreased intake (counteractive control), relative to control exposure. The author,, employed 13 (attended vs. incidental vs. control cue) X 2 (low vs. high weight-related concerns) design. As expected, participants with high weight-related concerns who attended to a food cue ate more than did both those with high weight related concerns in the control condition and those with low weight-related concerns in the attended-cue condition; however, intake of individuals with high weight-related concerns who were exposed to the incidental cue did not differ from that of those in the control condition. The manner of food-cue presentation may be a critical factor in determining eating behavior.