Logo image
Back
Understanding reward compensation: a multimodal investigation into the role of reward deficit in obesity and consumption of high-reward foods
Dissertation   Open access

Understanding reward compensation: a multimodal investigation into the role of reward deficit in obesity and consumption of high-reward foods

Diane H. Dallal
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Sep 2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00001366
pdf
Dallal_Diane_2022856.64 kBDownloadView
PDF Open Access Open Access (License Unspecified)

Abstract

Ecological momentary assessment Experience sampling Food reward responsivity Non-food reward responsivity Reward deficit Clinical Psychology Obesity
More than 160 million American adults are overweight or obese. A critical maintaining factor of overweight/obesity is repeated instances of overconsumption of highly caloric, rewarding foods. Existing behavioral weight loss treatments have sub-optimal outcomes, suggesting they do not adequately target a maintaining factor of overconsumption. One maintaining factor may be individual differences in reward responsivity to highly pleasurable, calorically dense food in relation to non-food stimuli. Related research from the addiction literature indicates that individuals with substance use disorders experience a simultaneous state of reward deficit (i.e., low self-reported and neural responsivity to natural rewards) and high reward responsivity to drug cues. These factors appear to interact and lead individuals to engage in greater substance use over time, in order to compensate for a growing deficit for natural rewards. This phenomenon of reward compensation has several theoretical parallels to individuals with overweight/obesity and is posited to contribute to obesity maintenance. However, while there is strong evidence that reward responsivity to food cues is high in those with overweight/obesity, there is a dearth of research examining reward deficit for non-food stimuli, particularly with ecologically valid assessment approaches. The present study was the first to investigate reward deficit in individuals with overweight/obesity in relation to those with normal BMIs. Using a multimodal approach (i.e., retrospective recall and prospective experience sampling), this observational study assessed 86 undergraduates' daily activities, the perceived pleasure derived from each, and frequency of rewarding food consumption over the course of one week. General linear models revealed that individuals at higher BMIs reported retrospectively higher reward deficit (b=-.16, SEb=.06, p=.02) but prospectively lower reward deficit (b=.74, SEb=.30, p=.01), suggesting greater complexity than previously theorized to how individuals with overweight/obesity experience natural rewards compared to models of addiction. Meanwhile, the interaction between non-food and food reward responsivity on BMI and consumption was weak and nonsignificant multimodally, indicating that the reward compensation model of obesity maintenance was not supported. Additional research with more representative samples is needed to further investigate the reward compensation model, and to examine alternative explanatory models, that may maintain overconsumption over time.

Metrics

49 File views/ downloads
85 Record Views

Details

Logo image