Personality characteristics of restrained/binge eaters versus unrestrained/nonbinge eaters

The present study used the Restraint Scale (Herman & Polivy, 1975) and the Binge Scale (Hawkins & Clement, 1980) to identify two distinct groups of college students: those who scored high on both scales ("restrained/binge eaters") and those who scored low on both scales ("unrestrained/nonbinge eaters"). Following subject identification, 26 restrained/binge females, 25 unrestrained/nonbinge females, 14 restrained/binge males, and 13 unrestrained/nonbinge males were administered the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock & Erbaugh, 1961), the California Psychological Inventory (CPI; Gough, 1975), and a questionnaire on bulimic symptoms (based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, American Psychiatric Association, 1980) that allowed each subject to be classified as bulimic, binge eater, or normal eater. All of the students identified as bulimic were from the restrained/binge group and that group contained twice as many binge eaters as the unrestrained/nonbinge group. Students in the restrained/binge group were found to be more depressed than students in the unrestrained/nonbinge group and less well adjusted in areas of socialization, maturity, responsibility, and intrapersonal structuring of values. Results may be suggestive of personality factors tht predispose one to develop eating disturbances and/or useful in directing therapeutic intervention.