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The Power of Food Scale predicts chocolate cravings and consumption and response to a cravings intervention
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The Power of Food Scale predicts chocolate cravings and consumption and response to a cravings intervention

E.M. Forman, K.L. Hoffman, K.B. Mcgrath, J.D. Herbert, L.L. Brandsma and M.R. Lowe
Appetite, v 49(1), pp 291-291
2007
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2007.03.071

Abstract

The Power of Food Scale (PFS) is a new measure that assesses the impact of the food environment on food-related beliefs, thoughts and feelings. The present study involved 98 undergraduates who were given transparent boxes of Hershey's © kisses to keep with them for 48 h. They were instructed not to eat any of the kisses or any other chocolate during this period. We examined the relationship between the PFS and (1) cravings to eat the kisses (2) amount of kisses eaten (assessed surreptitiously), and (3) response to 3 intervention conditions (no intervention and control-based and acceptance-based interventions to reduced cravings). Baseline PFS scores significantly predicted the frequency and intensity of cravings and distress associated with them over the subsequent 48 h. In the control condition (where no effort was made to help participants cope with cravings), 30% of participants in the highest PFS tertile ate some of the chocolates compared to 4% among those in the lowest two tertiles. Response to the intervention interacted with baseline PFS levels, such that acceptance-based strategies were associated with better outcomes (for cravings and consumption) among those scoring highest on the PFS, but worse outcomes among those scoring lowest. Past research found the PFS to be related to self-report measures of external, emotional, disinhibitory, binge and hunger-based eating. Taken in conjunction with the present results, it appears that the PFS may represent a global measure of appetitive responsiveness to the food-abundant environments.

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