The relationship between restrained eating, pleasure associated with eating, and well-being re-visited

Appleton and McGowan [Appleton, K. M. & McGowan, L. (2006). The relationship between restrained eating and poor psychological health is moderated by pleasure normally associated with eating. Eating Behaviors, 7, 342-347.] reported that pleasure associated with eating is an important moderator of the relationship between restrained eating and well-being. Using questionnaires, the current study re-visited this issue in order to determine the exact conformation of this interaction between pleasure and restraint and how it might predict well-being. A significant relationship was found between restraint and well-being--higher restraint scores were predictive of lower self-clarity, lower life satisfaction, and higher neuroticism. Furthermore, pleasure was an important moderator of this relationship for both self-clarity and neuroticism. Conditional slopes analyses revealed that individuals who were both high on pleasure associated with eating and high on restraint showed the lowest self-clarity and the highest neuroticism scores, while the opposite pattern was found for those high on pleasure but low on restraint. This study confirms that pleasure associated with eating is an important moderator of the relationship between restrained eating and well-being.