Enhancing Motivation to Reduce Restrictive Eating: A Novel Approach

Despite growing interest in leveraging motivational techniques to address restrictive eating, it is not yet clear how to most effectively promote motivation to reduce this behavior. Drawing from a behavioral economic framework, the present study evaluates a novel approach for increasing motivation to address disordered eating by amplifying the potential benefits of reducing dietary restriction and the consequences of maintaining disordered behaviors.

A sample of 126 undergraduate students engaging in restrictive eating participated in a 7-day online experiment. Participants were randomized to one of four conditions: Amplified Benefits and Consequences, Amplified Benefits, Amplified Consequences, or a control condition. Growth curve models were estimated to examine the extent to which experimental conditions led to changes in eating pathology and motivation over the study period.

Initial reductions in dietary restraint were observed in conditions where the benefits of reducing restriction were amplified; however, these reductions were not sustained over the 7-day study period. The greatest increases in motivation were observed when both the benefits of reducing restriction and the consequences of maintenance were amplified.

Interventions designed to enhance motivation alone are unlikely to yield sustained reductions in eating disorder symptoms and therefore should be accompanied or followed by targeted interventions which directly address restrictive eating behaviors and maladaptive cognitions about shape and weight.