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Two measures of weight cycling and indexes of psychological functioning were examined in a large sample of dieters. History of weight cycling was assessed to include number of dieting attempts, total lifetime weight lost and regained, and number of weight cycles over 20 lb (9.1 kg). Experience of weight cycling measured perception of being a yo-yo dieter and perceived success at maintaining past weight losses. Experience was more strongly related than history to all psychological measures. Further, when controlling for the effects of age, body mass index, and experience, the relation between history and the psychological variables was nonsignificant. This finding suggests that an individual's perception of being a weight cycler may be more related to psychological problems than the actual number of pounds lost and regained over time.
Friedman et al. (Thu,) studied this question.