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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

A Computer-Based Platform for Aiding Clinicians in Eating Disorder Analysis and Diagnosis
Published on: May 10, 2022
Subtyping dietary restraint and negative affect in a longitudinal community sample of girls
Eunice Y Chen1, Michael S McCloskey, Kathryn E Keenan
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. chen@bsd.uchicago.edu
Objective:
This study tests the validity of the "dietary-depressive" subtype (typified by greater negative affect) and a "dietary" subtype (typified by dietary restraint only) using a diverse longitudinal community sample.
Method:
Girls at ages 10, 12, and 14 completed the Child Eating Attitudes Test, the Child Symptom Inventory-4, and Body Image Measure. Body Mass Index was assessed at each age.
Results:
Unlike previous studies, cluster analysis revealed an at-risk "dietary-depressive" (R+) subtype (18.7%,100/534) and a not at-risk (R-) subtype, distinguished by few depressive symptoms and little dietary restraint (81.3%,434/534), but no "dietary" subtype. When compared with the R- subtype, the R+ subtype had significantly greater eating disordered behavior and attitudes. The R+ subtype at age 10 was a risk factor for binge-eating but not obesity at ages 12 and 14.
Discussion:
Dietary restraint and depressive symptoms combined predict binge-eating longitudinally in a diverse community sample of girls.
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