Effects of Impulsivity and Poor Inhibitory Control on Food Addiction Symptoms

Problem: Food addiction, which is characterized by poor control of eating and dietary habits, has been linked to aspects of reduced executive functioning, including impulsivity and impaired inhibitory control. Impulsivity and inhibitory control can be measured by subjective self-report inventories and objective, performance-based cognitive tasks. No prior works have examined whether subjective or objective assessment is more closely related to symptoms of food addiction. The current study examined this question. We predicted that objective assessment of executive functioning would be more closely related to symptoms of food addiction.