Amy M Lampard 1, Susan M Byrne 1,2, Neil McLean 1, Anthea Fursland 2

1. University of Western Australia, School of Psychology, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, 6009, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
2. Centre for Clinical Interventions, 223 James St, Northbridge, 6003, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

The cognitive-behavioural model of eating disorders outlines the role of dietary restraint in the maintenance of binge eating. It has been proposed that the physiological and psychological effects of dietary restraint may lead to episodes of binge eating, which, in turn, serve to increase concerns about weight and shape, thereby maintaining further dietary restraint. Few studies have explored the relationship between dietary restraint and binge eating in clinical samples using longitudinal data. Due to the important implications of this model for the treatment of eating disorders, the current study aimed to investigate the role of dietary restraint in the persistence of binge eating in an eating disorder sample. Participants were patients seeking treatment for bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, or eating disorder not otherwise specified at an outpatient eating disorder service. The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire was used to measure dietary restraint and binge eating at pre-treatment, week five of treatment, and week ten of treatment. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate rapid-effect and time-lagged models, which enabled a fine-grained analysis of the reciprocal relationship between dietary restraint and binge eating. Implications for existing theories and treatments for eating disorders will be discussed.